RISE AND FALL OF A GREAT FASHION ICON

McQueen (15A) Verdict: Fascinating documentary

THE apparent suicide this week of US fashion designer Kate Spade gives this excellent documentary a tragic timeliness, for it tells the story of Lee Alexander McQueen, the working-class boy from London’s East End who rose to the top of the fashion industry and tragically ended up taking his own life in 2010.

The unique pressures of that world undoubtedly contributed to McQueen’s decision to end his life, as did the long shadow cast by childhood abuse he suffered at the hands of his much older

brother-in-law. But this film, by Ian Bons hote and Peter Ettedgui, casts as much light on his rise as it does on his fall.

McQueen’s working life began when his mother saw a TV programmed in which Savile Row tailors complained that they couldn’t find apprentices.

At school, the boy known to his family and

friends as Lee, had spent every lesson doodling fancy clothes. It was all he ever wanted to do. So he went along to Savile Row, asked for a job and the rest is fashion history.

McQueen became chief designer at Givenchy in Paris, at the heart of the dressmaking establishment, yet never toed the line.

There’s a marvellous clip of him putting the finishing touches to a leopard-skin number during his Givenchy years, saying: ‘This is the Bet Lynch dress.’ Only he could have fused the Paris catwalk with the Rovers Return. For those of us who don’t really understand the world of haute couture, some of McQueen’s more outlandish creations look plain silly. But this film underlines the reach of his impact and influence, and also, insightfully, explains how his personal troubles informed his professional life.

He had seen women in his family being beaten, and part of his credo, according to his nephew, was to create ‘strong women who looked like they had armour on’.

A sad, fascinating tale.