Top Fashion Designer Alexander McQueen Commits Suicide

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead after he took his own life. A source at the designer's office today confirmed his death.

The 40-year-old committed suicide just three years after his close friend Isabella Blow, the woman who helped him become a major star in the fashion world, killed herself. His death also comes just days before the start of London Fashion Week, and only weeks before he was set to unveil his new collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 9.

Born the youngest son of a taxi driver, the openly gay McQueen got his training in tailoring in Savile Row and eventually wound up making suits for Prince Charles and Mikhail Gorbachev. He also had the distinction of being named British Designer of the year four times between 1996 and 2003. He also won the CBE, and was named Designer of the Year at the Council of Fashion Designer Awards.

After a stint at Savile Row, he went on to work at Gieves & Hawkes, and then worked in both Japan and Italy. McQueen returned to London in 1994 with aspirations of working as a pattern cutter tutor at London's Central Saint Martins fashion school. He was pursuaded to enroll in the course himself, and after graduating he set up his own label on the East End of London.

His "bumsters" pants with a ultra-low waistband made him famous in the tabloids. He later was named head designer at Givenchy in 1996, before joining forces with Gucci, who bought 51 percent of his company.