>> Alexander McQueen, famously outspoken, spoke out in an interview for the Spring 2009 issue of Numero Homme (#17), and started by giving his interviewer, Numero editor at large Philip Utz, and fashion journalism as a whole, a dressing-down: "[it's a] thinly-veiled exercise in marketing."  Then, he moved on to the British Fashion Council — "[it] doesn't know what the f*ck it's doing" — and another one of his favorite subjects to disparage — Hubert de Givenchy.

McQueen was the designer for Givenchy from 1997 to 2001, and upon his installation, he declared Hubert de Givenchy's work "irrevelant"; it seems the years have not softened his opinion: "Well what do you make of Hubert de Givenchy? He was only ever any good at ripping off [Cristobal] Balenciaga."

But he does have a couple of designers he looks up to: 

"Comme des Garçons and Martin Margiela. There are designers that I admire, but I don't look up to them. I don't really look at what everybody else is doing. That's a studio mentality. There comes a time in your life when you focus solely on what you believe is right, regardless of what everybody else is doing."

Incendiary as his words may be, he prefers the quiet life:

"People who move in [fashion] circles never have anything to say. You know it's hard enough doing this job, I don't have to fucking live it as well. I'd rather sit at home watching Coronation Street."
*image: source