Alexander McQueen’s label is set to continue in the wake of the untimely death of the designer, it was announced today on the eve of London Fashion Week. His parent company, the Gucci group, stated that they would combine all their resources to ensure his label the future it deserves. Gucci owns 51 per cent of the McQueen brand with the remainder owned by the designer’s estate. But it’s been too early to decide who will step into the (frankly irreplaceable) McQueen’s shoes in running the company, which employs around 180 people throughout the UK and Europe.

An exceptionally gifted tailor with an eye for the extremities of fashion, McQueen was viewed as a visionary in his field. Combining intentionally provocative themes and designs with a robust sense of humour made him a one off fashion maverick. Indeed, he was regarded as a legend in his own short lifetime.

Unconventional in his staging of catwalk shows, they were invariably the hottest tickets on the fashion calendar and had been exalted to the level of contemporary art happenings. From robot sprayed dresses to extraordinary facially clamped models sporting cloven hooves, he was a provocateur in the truest sense of the word.

Westminster Coroner’s Court announced at yesterdays inquest that Lee (as he was known) had died as a result of asphyxiation and hanging whilst at home at his house in Mayfair, in a tragic suicide believed to be in response to the death of his beloved mother.

Confirmation has also been made that McQueen’s highly anticipated autumn/winter collection will still be shown at Paris Fashion Week next month.