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Alexander McQueen opens store in L.A. but Paris Hilton is not welcomed |
 British fashion designer Alexander McQueen is opening his new store in celebrity land Los Angeles but he’s made it quite clear the clientele he is waiting for doesn’t include Paris Hilton.
“If she comes past the shop, hopefully she will just keep walking. I don’t really covet that sort of thing. I’m not too fond of these openings, I find them quite superficial,” said McQueen. “The people who wear McQueen wear it because they want to wear it, not because it’s the new thing in town.”
Although McQueen revealed that he would need to have a lot of red carpet dresses available in his new store he also made it clear in the past that he isn’t too fond of certain celebrities. “I can’t get sucked into that celebrity thing because I think it’s just crass. I work with people who I admire and respect. It’s never because of who they are,” he told US Harper’s Bazaar last year. He also politely declined to invite Victoria Beckham to his London show few years ago.
 His new store, a sleek, futuristic 3,100-square-foot space at the corner of Melrose and Orlando avenues, near the Marc Jacobs encampment will house the full women’s and men’s collections, accessories, shoes and eyewear. “There will also be more of a lean toward specialty pieces, more evening pieces and some pieces I’ll put in the collection just for L.A.,” McQueen said.
Alexander McQueen’s fashion empire includes 20 stores worldwide but this new boutique will certainly be noticed. The shop has above it an eye-catching, nine-foot-tall metal sculpture of a naked man with his arms outstretched, called as Angel Of The Americas, which was made by British artist Robert Bryce Muir.
 The grand-opening bash will take place on May 13 and McQueen wanted his friend, singer Amy Winehouse, to perform for the opening but as he said “She’s having visa problems,” and won’t be able to attend. He’s got another star on tap to help him host, but he didn’t reveal who it is.
Alexander McQueen, 39, graduated from Central St Martins College of Art & Design in 1991 and his designs are beautiful, romantic and sophisticated. He has dressed everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Sarah Jessica Parker, from Bjork to Kate Moss to Katie Holmes.
McQueen grew up in London. He was one of six children of a cab driver and a homemaker. His family struggled financially while McQueen was growing up, so to help the family along, he starting making dresses for his three sisters. At this point, his desire to become a fashion designer began to grow.
McQueen launched his own line in 1992. In 1996 McQueen was named Best British Designer of the Year and few days later, he was also named John Galliano’s successor as the new chief designer at Givenchy. McQueen wasn’t happy at Givenchy and in 2000 he sold 51 per cent stake of his own company to the Gucci Group and that allowed him at last to loose himself from the Givenchy contract he claimed had constrained his creativity.
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