The Future of McQueen

It's been exactly a week since Lee Alexander McQueen passed away and amid the general sense of shock and mourning there have been the inevitable questions about the future of the company, which was bought by the Gucci Group in 2000 with a 51% stake. Given how close his death was to Fashion Week (McQueen exhibits in Paris) it was sort of a given that his Fall / Winter collection was almost done, but there was no news on whether they would be showing.

They will be as it turns out, according to Gucci Group president Robert Polet, who made the announcement today. The fashion house will also definitely go on without the founder, although there is currently no heir apparent.

Gareth Pugh is a name that has been tossed around and frankly I think that'd be an absolutely incredible fit.

I love Pugh's work, it's so surreal and fantastic in the truest sense of the word - I think that the two shared an exquisite sense of the macabre that might translate well into McQueen's legacy.

But what a legacy that is - whoever it is that steps in has some very, very big shoes to fill.