Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen Biography

Lee McQueen, who would later find fame as fashion visionary Alexander McQueen, was born on 17 March 1969 in London.

The boy destined for a future in high fashion came from a very modest background. His father was a cabbie and Lee McQueen grew up in council house in East London.

By the time he was sixteen, McQueen had decided to devote himself entirely to fashion. He dropped out of school and took an apprenticeship at the Savile Row tailors Anderson and Shepherd. This experience gave him the opportunity to sharpen his technical skills and tailoring, for which he later became famous.

He progressed to Gieves and Hawkes and then to costumiers Angels and Bermans. The variety of his apprenticeships gave him the opportunity to master many different tailoring techniques.

From tailoring on Savile Row, McQueen made the transition to working alongside Koji Tatsuno and at the age of 21 he moved to Milan to work with Romeo Gigli. McQueen completed masters degree in fashion design at the prestigious Central St. Martins College, where he had originally just hoped to be a pattern cutter. His collection, the culmination of his apprenticeships, received keen media attention and firmly established him as a promising young fashion designer.

He then set about making a name for himself. His shows were remarkably theatrical and his brutally sharp style brought him much attention and acclaim.

He also crafted a reputation. McQueen, by virtue of a petulant bad boy image and frequent outbursts, became ‘L’Enfant Terrible’. Attitude in tow, McQueen and his new self-titled label were taking over fashionable London.

He won the British Designer of the Year Award in 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2003. In 1997, he was employed by couture house Givenchy and promptly, and impudently, dismissed the label’s founder, Hubert de Givenchy, as ‘irrelevant’. Subsequently, his first Givenchy line bombed.

McQueen, however, was still respected in the fashion world and was allowed a second chance, a great mark of respect in a notoriously unforgiving industry. In 2000, Gucci purchased a controlling interest in the McQueen line. This move ended McQueen’s tumultuous relationship with Givenchy and gave him a greater creative license.

In 2003, McQueen was presented with the International Award by The Council of Fashion Designers of America and also received a CBE. By 2007, he had opened boutiques in cities across the world, including in Las Vegas, New York and Milan. And A list celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman were wearing his creations on red carpets from LA to London.

It was announced on 11 February 2010 that McQueen had been found dead at his Mayfair home. The news came just days after the death of his beloved mother, Joyce.

Lee McQueen will be remembered for introducing us to the “bumster”, for his fabulous tailoring, outrageous style and enormous talent. He is much mourned by the fashion community.

Source: http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk

The 14th Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama : Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Dondrub,6 July 1935 is the 14th and current Dalai Lama . Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and is also well known for his lifelong advocacy for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet. Tibetans traditionally believe him to be the reincarnation of his predecessors and a manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso,  the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. He was born in a small village called Takster in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshin Norbu, the Wish-fulfilling Gem, or simply, Kundun, meaning The Presence.

Education in Tibet

He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25. At 24, he took the preliminary examination at each of the three monastic universities: Drepung, Sera and Ganden. The final examination was held in the Jokhang, Lhasa, during the annual Monlam Festival of Prayer, held in the first month of every year. In the morning he was examined by 30 scholars on logic. In the afternoon, he debated with 15 scholars on the subject of the Middle Path, and in the evening, 35 scholars tested his knowledge of the canon of monastic discipline and the study of metaphysics. His Holiness passed the examinations with honours, conducted before a vast audience of monk scholars.

Leadership Responsibilities

In 1950, at 16, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power as Head of State and Government when Tibet was threatened by the might of China. In 1954 he went to Peking to talk with Mao Tse-Tung and other Chinese leaders, including Chou En-Lai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1956, while visiting India to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti, he had a series of meetings with Prime Minister Nehru and Premier Chou about deteriorating conditions in Tibet. In 1959 he was forced into exile in India after the Chinese military occupation of Tibet. Since 1960 he has resided in Dharamsala, aptly known as “Little Lhasa”, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

In the early years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet, resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961 and 1965. In 1963, His Holiness promulgated a draft constitution for Tibet which assures a democratic form of government. In the last two decades, His Holiness has set up educational, cultural and religious institutions which have made major contributions towards the preservation of the Tibetan identity and its rich heritage. He has given many teachings and initiations, including the rare Kalachakra Initiation, which he has conducted more than any of his predecessors.

His Holiness continues to present new initiatives to resolve the Tibetan issues. At the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987 he proposed a Five-Point Peace Plan as a first step towards resolving the future status of Tibet. This plan calls for the designation of Tibet as a zone of peace, an end to the massive transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, restoration of fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms and the abandonment of China’s use of Tibet for nuclear weapons production and the dumping of nuclear waste, as well as urging “earnest negotiations” on the future of Tibet and relations between the Tibetan and Chinese people. In Strasbourg, France, on June 15, 1988, he elaborated on this Five-Point Peace Plan and proposed the creation of a self-governing democratic Tibet, “in association with the People’s Republic of China.” In his address, the Dalai Lama said that this represented “the most realistic means by which to re-establish Tibet’s separate identity and restore the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people while accommodating China’s own interests.” His Holiness emphasized that “whatever the outcome of the negotiations with the Chinese may be, the Tibetan people themselves must be the ultimate deciding authority.”

Quotes by the Dalai Lama

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Dalai Lama

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
Dalai Lama

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
Dalai Lama

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.
Dalai Lama

If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.
Dalai Lama

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
Dalai Lama

In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.
Dalai Lama

It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.
Dalai Lama

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.
Dalai Lama

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
Dalai Lama

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Dalai Lama