Alexander McQueen: The Life and Legacy

Childhood

He was said to have had ADD, stupidity and dyslexia in school. Like many other visionaries there was a case of overcoming some sort of obstacle. For Jobs this was being adopted, for Musk this was being bullied in school.

“Lee was anything but stupid: a voracious reader, he studied images keenly.” Reading about topics you really care about is one of the greatest way to be at the top of your game. Elon Musk had a similar childhood where he’d read books about things like engineering for hours.

Mentors

After leaving school, “he became an apprentice tailor at Anderson & Sheppard” Behind almost every successful person there is a mentor. Einstein met with a mentor for lunch every Thursday, Elon musk had one in his early days, as did Bill gates Gates as does almost every great sportsman/woman.

“What I learned at sixteen is that you have to be like an architect… You’ve got to know the rules and when to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition. You have to move forward…lets keep it real.” Beautiful.

“Lee was apprenticed to one of the firms best coat makers, Cornelius O’Callagghan, an exacting and strict teacher who he recalled with ‘gratitude’ and ‘fondness’. By being mentored by the best of the best, Lee was gaining the best of the best knowledge!

“Determined and self-disciplined, he worked quietly.”

“That’s the thing McQueen went on to do with his own collections… Seen a mistake and rectified it by ripping it apart snd starting again… But that’s the thing you learn as a tailor: you see if somethings wrong and you fix it.” Ruthless focus and search for epic perfection. Similar to the early Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

Appreciation of History

Throughout the book it’s mentioned McQueen had a love for history & the history of fashion. It’s appreciation of the greats, realising their downfalls and learning from their achievements that allows one to do incredible things.

- “Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims,” McQueen’s degree collection, was shown in July 1992 at London’s Kensington Olympia exhibition centre. He demonstrated an ability to take elements from the past and reinvent them for a modern audience.

Passion

“If you don’t have passion for something, you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” – Alexander McQueen. This speaks volumes! I think he’s missing something though, passion + precision. The passion is what drives you, what keeps you hungry to do more when everyone is asleep. The precision is what allows you to execute effectively. Precision takes skill, best gained through knowledge.

Central Saint Martins

In 2009, Lee told the BBC a little of what CSM meant to him, “What I really liked was the freedom of expression and being surrounded by like-minded people… I began to see him out on the gay scene in Soho.” Self-explanatory, surround yourself with people that share your goals and thoughts. You’ll push each other forward. And once you Know Yourself, put yourself where you can have the best experiences and enjoy the good life.

He was obsessed by John Galliano… For Lee, he was the one to beat, he was the benchmark.” Like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Walton (Walmart founder), and Sun Tzu, he knew his competition and that if he wanted to be the greatest he had to know everything about them so he could be the best.

Keep going,

Tyler