Alexander McQueen liken to the House of Christian Dior; Plum Sykes talks McQueen her friend

Posted by Helen Lee at 10:18 pm February 17th, 2010 | 2 comments

While the fashion world mourns the death of one of the most iconic designers of our time, it comes as no surprise that the question of succession at Alexander McQueen has come into question. Word is his final show at Paris Fashion Week in March will still go ahead with his talented design team pulling it all together. But who will design the next collections? Will the Gucci Group (which own 51% of the brand) shutter the brand? Lee Alexander McQueen himself had once expressed desire for his label to become a lasting luxury brand, telling W he hoped it would be “here 150 years from now, after I’m pushing up daisies”.

Fashion journalist and former Vogue editor Marion Hume has compared McQueen the house of Christian Dior. When the great couturier passed away suddenly in 1957 their financial backer wanted to shutter the house, but was persuaded to change his mind and in came a 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent. Forty years later the house of Dior was resurrected again in 1997 by John Galliano.

Could the same happen to Alexander McQueen? Who could come in or will someone rise from within? If Gareth Pugh could prove that he has tailoring talents, I would love to see him try his hand at keeping the McQueen name alive.

Meanwhile Plum Sykes writes about her “clever but vulnerable friend“, revealing the more intimate details on a man whose private life rarely made the headlines.