I first met Alexander McQueen 15 years ago when he was still a fledgling designer working in a basement in Hoxton. Having only the media image of the man to go by – this was the so-called bad boy of British fashion and one more than ready to call a spade a shovel – I was somewhat fearful, and so found myself asking nervously: “Where do you think your genius comes from?”

Lee Alexander McQueen, the son of an East End taxi driver who rose to become one of Britain’s most acclaimed fashion designers, was found dead at his home in London yesterday after committing suicide on the eve of his mother’s funeral.

Amid the controversy surrounding singer John Mayer’s interview in US Playboy’s March issue (he made racist comments about black women, was very blunt about his sexual relationships in the past, and dropped the n-word, among others), the “gentlemen’s” magazine has released its annual list of Sexiest Celebrities, which inlcudes Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, and Beyoncé.

The trend of major beauty labels recognizing YouTube vloggers as serious makeup artists is growing fast: after Lauren Luke’s Sephora release, it is now Michelle Phan who has been hired as Lancôme’s official video makeup artist.

Autumn-Winter 2010 Fashion Week opened in New York on Thursday as the fashion world reeled from the apparent suicide of trailblazing British designer Alexander McQueen.

Britain’s press Friday remembered designer Alexander McQueen as “one of fashion’s brightest lights”, but lamented the star’s dark side so often on show in his outlandish creations had won out.