Lee Alexander McQueen was born on 17 March 1969, in Lewisham, London, England, and was was a fashion designer, best known for being the chief designer of Givenchy before founding his own label Alexander McQueen. He won numerous awards, and all of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today. McQueen died in 2010.
How rich was Alexander McQueen? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $30 million, mostly earned through a successful career in the fashion industry. His achievements included four British Designer of the Year awards and a CFDA International Designer of the Year award. He was one of the youngest British designers to acquire these awards, and all of these ensured the position of his wealth before his passing.
Alexander Mcqueen Net Worth $30 million
McQueen attended Carpenters Road Primary School and at a young age was already making dresses for his sisters. He decided to pursue a career in fashion, and then attended Rokeby School. After getting his O-level in art, he left the school to become an apprentice at Anderson & Sheppard, and then moved to Gieves & Hawkes before working for Angels and Bermans. He then attended Rosetta Studio Workshops, continuing to improve his craft.
Early in his career, Alexander already had numerous big names as clients such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles. By the time he was 20 years old, he was working for Koji Tatsuno, and then working for Romeo Gigli in Italy, before moved back to London and studying at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design where he met stylist Isabella Blow. After getting his master’s degree, he created his second collection called “McQueen’s Theatre of Cruelty” and met Katy England who would become his right hand woman. Katy would join him for the next collection and would work with him for a long time. His net worth was well established.
In 1996, Alexander designed David Bowie’s wardrobe for his tours, and would also work on various music videos and album covers for the singer Bjork. He continued with collaborations, later working on theatre and films as well. He slowly built his reputation especially in runway shows, which he did with several shock tactics and controversial decisions. His shows were very lavish, but he also helped created the low rise jeans he called “bumsters”. He made sure to use new technologies in his shows, which became popular among audiences. Within the same year, he became the head designer of Givenchy, succeeding John Galliano. His first collection was unsuccessful, but he learned from it and started to tone down his designs while still maintaining the craziness of his runway shows. He stayed with the company until 2001 when he felt that his creativity was being constrained in Givenchy. Regardless, his net worth was rising steadily.
In 2001, he created his most popular catwalk show called VOSS which featured Michelle Olley, Kate Moss, and Erin O’Connor. He started building his name once more, especially by creating his own label. After six years, the Alexander McQueen label had spread to numerous countries and celebrities were already wearing his designs; some of his clients included Nicole Kidman, Rihanna, Namie Amuro, and Ayumi Hamasaki.
For his personal life, Alexander was openly gay, telling this to his family when he was 18 years old. He had a ceremony in 2000 with his partner George Forsyth, though the marriage wasn’t official as it was not legal in Spain during that time; their relationship actually ended a year later. Alexander’s main relaxation was scuba diving. In February 2010, McQueen was found hanged at his home, and results of the investigation revealed that it was suicide. He left a significant amount of wealth to his dogs so that they could live in luxury for the rest of their lives. His death came just nine days after his mother had passed away from cancer, but based on previous reports he was already suicidal.
