McQueen biography elevates the personal above the sartorial

Biography: Blood Beneath the Skin. By Andrew Wilson . Simon & Schuster, €18.99. Reviewed by Ruth O’Connor.

One of McQueen’s more outré designs
One of McQueen’s more outré designs

‘The memorial service was very odd, as I couldn’t reconcile the family with the fashion crowd. I kept looking at their shoes ‒ the family had very normal high street shoes ‒ and on the other side were these fantastically expensive, ostentatious shoes.”

These words from Alice Smith, discussing Alexander McQueen’s funeral, perfectly sum up the paradoxes inherent in the late fashion designer’s life. The bad boy of British ...