Now playing: 'McQueen' captures brilliance of troubled fashion design titan

Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui directed the film on Alexander the Great: 'It was a very, very challenging project emotionally'

Late fashion designer Alexander McQueen at work. Photo by Ann Ray/Courtesy Bleecker Street

To afford a vintage Alexander McQueen dress requires the kind of funds the designer never possessed as a young man ($4,000 for this 2006 Alexander McQueen White Silk Crepe Chain Plunge High-Slit Hourglass Gown, for example).

As seen in the new documentary McQueen, directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, he grew up in a working class family, the son of a cab driver. McQueen couldn't afford tuition to design school, but he would surmount those economic struggles to become the leading British designer of his time, and perhaps the entire world.

McQueen is now playing in New York, Los Angeles and select other cities (details here) and enjoys a 100-percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Click below for an excerpt from our interview with the directors in West Hollywood.

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>McQueen's executive producer on brilliance of late fashion designer: 'His tailoring and craftsmanship were really so unique'

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