Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin - Hardcover

'Explores the source of the fashion designer's genius and the links between his dark work and troubled personal life.' Irish Times

'McQueen's story is almost mythical. It has all the elements of Icarus - he flew too close to the sun and was burned by his aspirations.' Grazia 'The Alexander McQueen fashion house has been accused of distancing itself from the dark genius of its founder after biographies of him were banned from an exhibition of his work. In an interview with The Times Magazine, Wilson said "the company that bears Lee's name and now an international brand did not want to co-operate with the book."' -- The Times T2

'McQueen defied the expectations of his birth, only to be hunted down by personal demons.' The Times

'Wilson's insights offer a sensitive take on a troubled soul: from difficult beginnings in a working class family and childhood abuse at the hands of his violent-tempered brother-in-law to his prodigious talent and A-list lifestyle, hampered by depression.' -- The Times

'Wilson is the first biographer to have enjoyed the 'blessing and cooperation of the McQueen family'. His narrative interweaves scores of testimonials from former colleagues, students, friends, fellow-clubbers and sexual partners... [it] remind[s] us that McQueen s extraordinary imagination, though clouded with melancholy and spiked with savagery, changed the way we look at fashion for ever' Financial Times

'Andrew Wilson's heartbreaking biography of McQueen takes an unflinching look at the personal price McQueen paid for this supposed poetry. This seems like a fan's book at first glance written 'with the support of the McQueen family' but it's a wonderfully readable and well-researched account.' The Telegraph

'This is a deeply intelligent, fascinating book, full of insights and perceptions, and I suspect the fashion insiders won't get it because of its unflattering portrayal of their bitchy world. But everyone else will. McQueen has got in Wilson the biographer he deserves.' The Independent

'Andrew Wilson's heart-breaking biography of McQueen takes an unflinching look at the personal price McQueen paid for this supposed poetry.' -- Daily Telegraph

Andrew Wilson is a journalist who has written for the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Telegraph and the Observer. He is the author of the critically acclaimed BEAUTIFUL SHADOW: A LIFE OF PATRICIA HIGHSMITH, THE LYING TONGUE, HAROLD ROBBINS: THE MAN WHO INVENTED SEX and SHADOW OF THE TITANIC.