Breaking News: Alexander McQueen -dead

Alexander McQueen, one of fashion's consummate inconoclasts and showmen, has committed suicide at age 40, a spokeswoman confirmed. "Mr. McQueen has been found dead at his house this morning," she said, declining further comment. A statement from PPR, parent of Gucci Group and the McQueen company, is expected shortly. Circumstances of his death were not revealed and a spokesman declined comment. McQueen's mother recently died and the designer was known to be extremely close to her, although it could not be learned whether this contributed to his death. McQueen burst onto the London fashion scene with a mix of aggression, energy and creativity that reinvigorated the city's reputation and made his shows the hottest ticket in town.

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen (né Lee McQueen), whose cutting-edge dresses were worn by stars like Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Lady Gaga, was found dead in his London home this morning. He was 40 years old. “At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family,” reads a message on the official website of the designer’s company. Rumors have begun to circulate online, but officials say the the cause of death remains unknown. “We’re devastated and I hope you understand that out of respect to his family and his colleagues we’re not going to be making any further statement,” said the designer’s spokewsoman in a statement to the UK’s Guardian.

McQueen rose to fame in the ’90s, earning a reputation for his impeccably tailored avant-garde looks and iconoclastic fashion shows. He got a relatively traditional start on Savile Row, designing for Givenchy before creating his own label under the Gucci umbrella in 2001. McQueen’s designs were red-carpet regulars, especially on Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campell. A few of McQueen’s most famous works include Gwyneth Paltrow’s see-through 2002 Oscar dress and the “armadillo” shoes worn by Lady Gaga in her 2009 “Bad Romance” music video.

Since his death was announced earlier today, several celebrities have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to the designer.

DitaVonTeese: “Rest in peace, Mr. McQueen.”

Joel Madden: “R.I.P. Alexander McQueen. You were one of the best man. Always hoped to meet you.”

Kelly Osbourne: “i am so so sad to hear the news of Lee (Alexander) McQueen! i really just dont know what say im really in shock”

Kim Kardashian: I just found out Alexander McQueen died!!! I’m in shock! So sad! I’m wearing one of his dresses now! He was such a talented designer”

Kirstie Alley: ALEXANDER MCQUEEN…you made big bottomed and not so big bottomed girls all over the world look stunning..come back soon..give it another go”

Rachel Zoe: “I cant describe the tragic loss of such a brilliant man and designer Alexander McQueen..R.I.P xo RZ”

PARIS : British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has died in London, his press office in Paris said Thursday, after media reports said he had apparently committed suicide aged 40.

Emergency services were called to his home in central London but he was pronounced dead at the scene, the reports said, and a British police spokesman said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

A spokeswoman for the bad boy designer, who rapidly built an international reputation for his outrageous creations, said: "Mr McQueen was found dead this morning at his home.

"We're devastated and I hope you understand that out of respect to his family and his colleagues we're not going to be making any further statement," she added.

The death was reported shortly after 10:00 am. Seven hours later, the body was brought out of his home on a stretcher, covered in a red blanket, and loaded into a private ambulance.

McQueen, a four-time winner of the British designer of the year award, was creative director of his own label which was bought out by Gucci and was one of Britain's most lauded fashion designers.

His close friend and fashion icon Isabella Blow killed herself three years ago at the age of 48. She died after telling friends she was going out shopping.

Tributes poured straight away after the death was announced.

Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, said: "Lee McQueen influenced a whole generation of designers. His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs.

"His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn't."

Designer Katherine Hamnett said: "He was a genius. What a terrible, tragic waste."

German couture legend Karl Lagerfeld told AFP: "I knew him very little but knew his work, which brought him a lot of success."

"I found his work very interesting and never banal," he added.

"There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanised," Lagerfeld said.

"Who knows, perhaps after flirting with death too often, death attracts you."

Louise Wilson, one of his teachers at London's St Martin's College of Art and Design, told the BBC: "He was a joy to work with. He was a self-motivated individual. He was a superb cutter.

"In education you open the door, you hope they walk through. He walked through it."

She noted that he designed for all tastes and price levels, including for luggage manufacturer Samsonite and sportswear label Puma. "That's the beauty of his genius, is that he related to everybody," she added.

Born in London's East End into a working-class family -- his father was a taxi driver -- McQueen rose to fame after graduating from St Martin's in 1991. McQueen cut his teeth as a tailor in Savile Row, where legend has it that he left his distinctive mark -- in the form of hand-written obscenities -- in the lining of a jacket for Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. After spells with designers Romeo Gigli and Koji Tatsuno, he started his own label and quickly became a controversial figure. He designed the famous "bumster" trousers, which displayed the cleavage between model's buttocks in a parody of the low-slung trousers worn by workers on London building sites. He even survived general condemnation over a collection featuring ripped clothing, entitled "Highland Rape", which was the first time anyone had chosen to send supposed rape victims down the catwalk. After earning the title of best British designer of the Year in 1996, he moved to France, following another Londoner, John Galliano, as chief designer at Givenchy, where he continued to shock. He toned down his tactics for Paris but enjoyed a further brush with notoriety when he included a disabled amputee model walking on carved wooden legs in a London show.

McQueen's position in the mainstream was assured in 2000, however, when the Gucci Group bought out 51 percent of his label, and the past decade has seen him launch flagship stores in New York, London and Milan. He had a perfume line, launched his first menswear collection in 2004 and most recently launching a denim-based collection entitled McQ. His death came days before London fashion week, and ahead of Paris fashion week next month.