Emergency services were called to the 40-year-old's home in central London Thursday and he was pronounced dead at the scene, while Scotland Yard said the death was not being treated as suspicious. Reports said he had hanged himself.

A spokeswoman for the bad boy of British fashion, who rapidly built an international reputation for his outrageous creations, said: "Mr McQueen was found dead this morning at his home."

"At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief," said a statement on his label's website.

McQueen, a four-time winner of the British designer of the year award, was creative director of his own label which was bought out by Gucci and was one of Britain's most lauded fashion designers.

Media reports said his mother Joyce died last week, and in a comment on McQueen's Twitter page on Sunday he wrote that he had had an "awful week, but my friends have been great, but now I have to somehow pull myself together."