“Weekend” Director Andrew Haigh Directing Alexander McQueen Biopic

McQueen, a favorite of Bjork and Lady Gaga, took his life in 2010.
From: NewNowNext

 A new film about fashion designer Alexander McQueen is in the works, based on the Andrew Wilson biography Blood Beneath the Skin.

Out filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years) is set to direct, with Jack O’Connell, best known for Unbroken and Money Monster, playing the controversial clothier.

 McQueen was born to a working-class London family, and began apprenticing at a Savile Row tailor at age 16. After befriending Isabella Blow and working at various fashion houses, he began designing for celebrities like David Bowie and Björk.

 He developed a reputation for being an enfant terrible and for using shock tactics on the runway, like a human chess game and a life-sized hologram of Kate Moss dressed in yards of fabric.

 Despite his attitude, McQueen became one of the most celebrated designers of the 90s and 2000s, named International Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers.

He was appointed head designer by Givenchy in 1996, and in 2000, creative director of Gucci in 2000. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

 Signature designs included “bumster” pants, which sparked a trend in low-rise jeans, and “armadillo shoes,” which were popularized by Lady Gaga.

 McQueen battled depression for most of his adult life and was discovered hanged in his apartment in 2010, nine days after his mother, Joyce, died of cancer.

The film will focus on McQueen’s celebrated 2009 collection, and according to distributor Pathe Films, “explores McQueen’s creative process in the months leading up to the show, providing an intimate portrait of the man behind the global brand—a moving celebration of a visionary genius whose designs transcended fashion to become art.”

Principal photography begins in the spring.