Bizarre Buffet Podcast
There’s a dark trend in the fashion world, and thats suicide. Listen to ” Fashion Suicide: The Hanging Trend” from Bizarre Buffet podcast, right here !
On this episode we sit down and explore some bizarre similarities in the deaths of three noted fashion designers. From Alexander McQueen, to L’Wren Scott, to Kate Spade.
Listen to ” Fashion Suicide: The Hanging Trend ” Below!
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Episode Credits
Hosted by Marc Bluestein, Jen Wilson, & Mark Tauriello.
Original story & concept by Mark Tauriello.
Original episode art by Mark Tauriello.
Show Notes by Mark Tauriello.
Audio & Visual production by Marc Bluestein.
Episode Show Notes
Fashion Designer Suicides
Who is your favorite fashion designer and or brand ?
Topic: Fashion Designers who all hung them selves
Alexander McQueen (2010)
-Born Lee Alexander McQueen March 17, 1969 and found dead February 11 2010.
-He was a Britisih fashion designer who started his own fashion label in the early 90’s. Growing up, his father worked as a taxi driver and his mother was a teacher. At an early age he took an interest in clothing, so he would experiment and design dresses for his 3 sisters since he was 1 of 6 children. One of his earliest memories was when he was 3 years old and he decided to draw a dress on the wall.
-He left school at 16, took a course in tailoring and went to have an apprenticeship as a tailor where he soon evolved into being a pattern maker for Gieves and Hawkes (A high end mens tailoring company). Allegedly while working for Gieves and Hawkes he had constructed blazers for Prince Charles where he had sewed obscenities into the lining of his suits, however, this can’t be proven…but still funny none the less.
-At the age of 20 he attended Cntral Saint Martins College for Art and Design where he received an MFA in fashion design in 1992. His graduation collection he titled, “Jack the Ripper Stalks his Victims” which captured the attention of fashion socialite, Isabella Blow, who soon began to wear his pieces, creating a buzz for Alexander and a close friendship.
-He struggled with money and lived in the basement of Blow’s house where he started his own label. His first collection was called Taxi Driver, inspired vy the Martin Scorsese film. Unfortunately he presented the collection on a rack in a small room at the Ritz Hotel where the clothes were stolen, never to be photographed. It is said that he sewed his own locks of hair onto the clothes to serve as his label.
-As time progressed he gained more and more of a following due to his equally conceptual and controversial fashion collections with titles such as Highland Rape where models wore clothes that were slashed and torn with spatters of fake blog. This was supposed to be an empowering collection for he wanted people to be afraid of the women he dressed, but it was met as masogynistic.
He became creative director for Givenchy where his designs were not well received for the iconic fashion label. He continued on with his line where he had many iconic moments like a model wearing a white dress that was spray painted by a robot, one show he has models looking psychotic while walking around in a glass tank to which they could not see the audience.
Celebrities like Bjork, David Bowie, and Lady Gaga celebrated his work putting him more into the mainstreams market.
-His signatures look was his dark themes of death and romanticism in exaggerated silhouettes with expert detailing (primarily a synched waiter and perfectly tailored shoulder. He used skeleton imagery often with literal interpretations of skeleton heads to abstract prints consisting of kaleidoskopic butterflies mirroring a spinal column.
Though he was a very successful designer he had a lot of life struggles which may or may not have influxnced his designs and death.
At an early age he came out as gay to his family which wasn’t easily accepted. He also said that he was sexually abused from his brother in law at an early age.
In 2000 he had a marriage ceremony in Spain (though it was not legalized) to his boyfriend George Forsyth who was a documentary film maker. A year later that relationship came to an end.
McQueen was also HIV positive in a time where it was more taboo with less progressive drugs than we have now.
In 2007 his friend who greatly supported him earlier in his career, Isdabella Blow, had committed suicide by drinking weed killer.
On February 3, 2010, Alexander lost his mother to which he had a very close relationship with.
8 Days later he was found dead on Feb 11from his housekeeper. He had hung him self in a closet.
Friends say that around the time of his death he was heavily involved with drugs. He also battled anxiety and depressive disorder where he had 2 suicide attempts by drug over dose in both May and July of 2009.
Upon his death, a conceptual art piece was made from Tina Gorjanic to which she made “human learther” from pig leather/ McQueens DNA cells from his first collection. The leather which was grown in a lab was eventually tanned and tattooed to appear similar to McQueens Skin. McQueens parents did not condone the use of his personal DNA for fashion projects but acknowledged that this project is exactly the sort of fashion experiments he would have enjoyed
L’Ren Scott 2014
Born April 1968 and died March 2014, Lwren Scott was an American model, fashion designer, and a stylist. Here original name was Laursa Bambrough which was given to her from her Mormon adoptive parents. By the age of 12 she are to 6 feet. At 16 she was spotted by photographer Bruce Weber . He advised her to go to Paris, so one year later she purchased a 1 way ticket to Paris after telling her parents she was going to New York. During this time she worked for Paris based agencies where she went to work for Thierry Mugler!!! And Chanel. She was also a model for photographers like Guy Bourdin and Jean Paul Goude.
Her first commercial success was as the legs on. A clock for the Pretty Polly hosiery ads.
In the early 90s she moved to California where she established her self as a stylist. Here she was able to land a gig where she styled Elizabeth Taylor in her White Diamonds campaign (which was the worlds top selling celebrity fragrance)
She also designed the clothing for the remake of Diabolique (love the movie), Eyes Wide Shut . Some of her celebrity clients she had styled consisted of Madonna and Julia Roberts.
She is also well known for her collaboration with Mick Jagger in designing his costumes for the Rolling Stones Tours. Some of these designes were a gorilla coat covered in ostrich feathers, and a gold embroidered jacket inspired buy Gustav Klimt.
She formed a relationship with Mick Jagger in 2001 which was her longest relation ship for she had 2 short lived marriages in the past. She was private about her life but was plagued with anxiety, insecurity, and debt. (I think Miock Jagger was a Hoe)
After a long period of battling depression, she was found dead by her assistant in her apartment in Chelsea in March of 2014. She was found hanging by one of her black satin neck ties which she tied to a door handle in her apartment. Her assistant arrived at her apartment that morning at 10AM where she saw her slumped dead on the kitchen floor, her neck tied to a ballony door handle.
It was said that she used a neck tie because it would be more effective.
Her last instagram post which was removed said “fashion is the armor to survive the reality of life”
At the time her company was going bankrupt, and allegedly her and Mick Jagger’s romantic relationship had come to an end. (though this is debatable)
Most eerie about her death was a facebook/ twitter post which was posted just hours after her death (her posts were on a set schedule)
The photo is quite an unusual coincidence considering the circumstance of her death. In this post, we see a tree in a dark forest which is brightly illu,inated. Many dresses are suspended buy hangers from multiple tree branches, looking like hanging Bodies.
After the post was automatically posted, many of her followers were upset by the image which was soon deleted.
Kate Spade 2018
Born 1962 as Katherine Noel Brosnahan , Kate Spade was the founder and co owner of her brand, Kate Spade New York.
Originally she was born in Kansas City, Missouri to parents who owned a construection company. While in college, she studied journalism in hopes of getting into TB production. During this time in 1985, she worked in a mens clothing store where she met her husband, Andy Spade where he not only became her husband but business patner. Andy Spade is also the brother to David Spade the actor
A year later they moved to Manhattan where Kate worked in the accessories deeprtment at Mademoiselle Magazine, and achieved senior fashion editor/ head of accessories in 1991. It was during this time she noticed that the market lacked affordable yet stylish handbags, so she decided to create her own label in 1993. Her design style wears very practical in shape with often vintage influences and a quirky element. Often you will see bold floral prints, polk a dos, and whimsical elements to her designs.
To launch her first line consisting of 6 handbags, her husband had to pull out his 401k to help finance this venture. After showing her first collection, her line caught the mainstream attention for her bags were priced from $150-$450
Her bags caught on so quickly that Anna Winter from Voguer said it was impossible to walk 1 city block without seeing somebody with a Kate Spade bag.
As time progressed her company grew to carry RTW, accesories, eyewear, gift objects, and so on. There was even a very short lived mens line, Jack Spade.
In 2004 she sold 56% of her business to Neiman Marcus to expand globally. 2 years later she sold the remaining 44% to them.
After selling ownership to Kate Spade, she took several years off to focus on her newborn daughter, who was born in 2005.
2016 Kate launched a new fashion line called Frances Valentine, which was a stemmed from a hybrid of family names.
2 Years later on June 2018, a house keeper found Spade dead in her Manhattan Apartment with a suicide note which was addressed to her deraughet who was 13 at the time. She was found hanged boy a scarf which she had tied to a doorknob. The suicide note said that she loved her daughter and that it was not her fault.. ands then told the teenager to “”ask daddy””
At the time her and her husband were separated and not living together, Her husband stated that Kate suffered from both depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help with doctors to treat her disease. He also mentions that they were in touch the night before her death and she seemed happy. There was no indication or warning that she would do this.
After her death her sister spoke to the Daily Mail and mentioned that her sister was bi polar, and orbsssed with Robin William’s suicide. It was also said that she self medicated with alcohol and didn’t want to seek help for it could “damage her brand” which had a happy go lucky image/
Closing:
These stories have always stuck with me because I find it odd that 3 successful designers all chose the same methods of suicide. Part of me wonders if there was any meaning behind it, or if it was just the most practical/convenient way to do it.
I feel that with Alexander McQueen all off his designs were a warning sign leading up to his suicide. And then with Lren Scott and Kate Spade, their designs were very whimsical (borderline safe and commercial) yet, they both took their lives through strangulation which is quite the contrary to their aesthetics. Every time I walk past a Kate Spade, it’s all auto turf, pink flowers and heart prints….and I can’t help but to think to met self “who are you fooling? The woman hung her self…she wasn’t THAT happy.
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