Alexander McQueen's life story will soon be hitting the silver screen: A biopic about the late designer is slated to start production by the end of 2016, Deadline reports. The film will be directed by Andrew Haigh, produced by Damian Jones, and written by playwright Chris Urch. McQueen's critically lauded career was cut short when he committed suicide in 2010 at the age of 40.
Jones has been interested in bringing Alexander McQueen's tale to the multiplex for a while: He optioned Andrew Wilson's 2015 biography about the designer, Blood Beneath the Skin, for a film adaptation, according to Deadline. While this new project will draw from Wilson's book, it will also feature Urch's own research on the creative visionary.
There hasn't yet been a film about the late designer. But he has been commemorated with an incredibly well-attended exhibit in 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (which was also the title of Met Ball's theme and book that year; the exhibit traveled to the U.K.'s Victoria & Albert Museum in 2015 ). More recently, Lady Gaga, a big fan of McQueen's work, honored him (and his close friend, the late stylist Isabella Blow) when she guest-edited V magazine.
Since the film won't be out for at least a year, here's a quick refresher on the London-born designer's trajectory: He got his start as a tailor's apprentice in Mayfair's legendary Saville Row before going on to work for theatrical costumers and to assist designers like Koji Tatsuno and Romeo Gigli. He went back to school to get his master's at Central Saint Martins. Four years after McQueen graduated, he was tapped to replace John Galliano as creative director at Givenchy, where he remained until 2001. Gucci Group bought a majority share of his namesake label in 2000, allowing McQueen to expand the line.
Over the years, the designer received four British Designer of the Year awards, was given a CFDA International Award, and named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by the Queen (both in 2003). McQueen died in 2010 at age 40.
As for the upcoming film's director, Haigh directed the critically acclaimed films Weekend and 45 Years (the latter of which is nominated for an Oscar this year). He was also an executive producer on HBO's Looking. Urch's latest play, The Rolling Stone, is currently on stage in London.
The film should be a great opportunity for McQueen's life to be shared and celebrated — his design legacy has definitely been celebrated, but his tragic circumstances of his death are often more talked about than the life he lead. There aren't that many well-made fashion films out there (or, likely, you've already seen all the good ones), and this sounds like it'll be strong addition to the genre.
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