Alexander McQueen was one of the fashion industries most revered designers. The London-based couturier was known for his theatrical and oftentimes dark aesthetic that he infused in his designs and runway shows. Pushing the comfort levels of the fashion crowd was a natural feat for McQueen, but the four-time British Designer of the Year also pushed his own internal limits as he struggled with anxiety, depression and drug addiction.
According to Dana Thomas, author of Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, McQueen developed a $1,000-a-day cocaine habit and had talked about killing himself more than once over the years. After his mother passed away on February 2, 2010, he fell into a deeper depression and succumbed to the inner demons that tortured him for so long. Just nine days after his mother's death, McQueen was found hanging in his apartment with his wrists slashed and having taken a lethal cocktail of cocaine, sleeping pills and tranquilizers.