Beneath the lustre

How careful should we be about what we wish for? Whether or not you care a jot about fashion, the story of Alexander McQueen’s rise and fall is a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions — a taxi driver’s son from the East End of London whose glorious talent brings him fame and wealth beyond his wildest dreams is overtaken by demons and tragically implodes.

Darkness lurks from the beginning of this story and never really lifts. McQueen shows how death shadowed the young designer, from his very first student collection, inspired by Jack the Ripper, to the losses that pushed him to the edge — the deaths of his mother and his beloved muse and mentor Isabella Blow.

The depth and strength of his bond with Blow, in particular, illuminate his story. It was Blow who first grasped the enormity of McQueen’s preternatural gifts. She was so mesmerised by his first collection, she took to calling his mother’s house multiple times every day in an effort to track