Iconic British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his London home on Thursday. According to the Daily Mail, he committed suicide after becoming despondent over the death of his mother Joyce, who died in early February.
An ambulance was called to McQueen’s home at 10:40 a.m. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene and his body was removed by the coroner – as seen in photos below. A London coroner has ruled the death was caused by asphyxiation and hanging.
On February 3, 2010, he wrote on his Twitter page that his mother, a former social science teacher, had died the day before. Four days later he wrote that he had an “awful week” and added: “Now I have to somehow pull myself together.”
The day before his mother’s death, McQueen ‘tweeted’: “From heaven to hell and back again, life is a funny thing. Beauty can come from the strangest of places – even the most disgusting places.”
McQueen designed for the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Fergie, Cameron Diaz, Katie Holmes, Prince Charles, and Kate Winslet.
The designer’s death came just before the start of London Fashion Week. His Spring Collection 2010 was due to unveil in Paris on March 9. Check out photos from his Spring and Summer Collection 2009 during a previous Paris Fashion Week.
Photo gallery and video death coverage below: