His body was found, reportedly hanged, in his Mayfair, London, home. Although it is difficult even for intimates to discern why anyone chooses to extinguish his future, many McQueen theories abounded. His twitter feed suggested he'd been having some dark times. His mother died just a week ago. His mentor and friend, Isabella Blow, had taken her own life a few years ago, after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

In his short career, McQueen was named British Designer of the Year four times and Designer of the Year in the U.S. once, and was working as creative director for Givenchy when he was very publicly poached by Tom Ford to do the same for Gucci. His own label was making inroads in the U.S. market, and he recently launched the slightly cheaper McQ and went into partnership with Target. Last year he became the first major designer to do a live webcast of his show. Everything suggested he was a man who had hit his stride.

The youngest of six children from London's East End, Lee McQueen, as he was known to friends and family, famously dropped out of school at 16 to become an apprentice on Savile Row. He worked for a few designers before applying to teach at London's prestigious Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design. He didn't get the job, but offered a coveted space in the graduate program. In 1992, upon graduation, discovered and championed by Blow, he started his own line.

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