One of the world’s most popular fashion brands, Alexander McQueen manufactures ready-to-wear clothes, as well as shoes, bags, and accessories, from wallets to scarves and jewelry. The brand’s logotype is based on the wordmark.
In 1991, Alexander McQueen, a student at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, presented his graduation work, the Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims collection. McQueen’s original work was noted by fashion editor Isabella Blow. After the fashion show she offered the designer to buy his entire collection for 5 thousand GBP.In 1992 Alexander McQueen founded his own name brand Alexander McQueen with the support of Isabella Blow.
Before creating his own brand, Alexander worked for Japanese fashion designer Koji Tatsuno, then for Romeo Gigli, and then the Givenchy fashion house invited him to replace John Galliano as art-director.
The designer made a provocation of each show – his models walked on gravel, up to their ankles in water, and the things themselves produce no less stunning effect.For his provocative shows McQueen was called the bully of British fashion. He released his models on the catwalk in bloody bandages, in cellophane, actively exploited the theme of death. After his death in 2010 the fashion house was headed by Sarah Burton who worked with him hand in hand for many years and managed to keep the author’s handwriting.
What is Alexander McQueen?
Alexander McQueen is the name of a British fashion house specializing in men’s and women’s clothes, shoes and accessories. It also produces perfumes and underwear. It was founded in 1992 by the legendary designer Alexander McQueen. It belongs to the luxury segment of the market.
The history of the brand started in 1992. Alexander McQueen’s early collections were notorious for their shock tactics. Many items verged on indecency. For instance, the designer introduced trousers cut so low that they were immediately nicknamed bumsters. According to a fashion commentator, there were only a dozen or two of people in England wearing such trousers at the time. Today, low-cut trousers are extremely popular, and it is McQueen who is credited with the introduction of the trend. His following collection, which was officially called Highland Rape, only reinforced his reputation as “the hooligan of English fashion.”
When in late 2000 the Gucci Group purchased 51% of the brand, Alexander McQueen went on playing a major part in it, now at the post of Creative Director. Following McQueen’s suicide in 2010, the Gucci Group announced that the brand would carry on without its founder. In a couple of weeks, Sarah Burton, who had been helping McQueen with designing his collections since 1996, was appointed Creative Director – the post she has been holding ever since.
The Alexander McQueen logo would have looked rather generic if not for the unique “Q,” which seems to be an emblem in itself. In spite of the simple type, the logo catches your eye because of the way a small “c” is placed inside the bigger letter “Q.”
We should also discuss the logo of the lower-priced diffusion line McQ. While the range itself was launched in 2006, its current logo was introduced in 2015. It features a large letter “Q” with smaller “M” and “C” inside. So, it looks a lot like the “Q” from the primary logo, with a minor difference.
As we’ve already mentioned above, the serif typeface featured on the logo has classic proportions and doesn’t stand out.
The combination of black and white seems to be the most widely used color scheme in the universe of fashion logos. In this respect, the Alexander McQueen logo doesn’t go any further than this popular choice. The reason seems pretty obvious, as this option allows maximum flexibility when placing a logo on clothes of different colors – black looks appropriate on almost any background.
The elegant lettering from the primary Alexander McQueen badge is set in a custom serif font, based on a traditional type, with a delicate addition of bold elements to the sleek medium-weight bars. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Baskerville Nr 1 SH, or Song ASC Traditional Light, but, as said above, with some modifications.
As for the color palette of the Alexander McQueen visual identity, there is nothing shocking — the fashion house prefers to write its name in black, against a white background. The timeless combination evokes a sense of professionalism, excellence, and precision.