Since Alexander McQueen's death on 11 February this year, speculation has been rife as to who would have the requisite talent and insight to continue the designer's legacy – or even if the company would survive his loss.

Alexander McQueen, one of the greatest fashion designers of his generation, killed himself while he was half out of his mind with grief on the eve of his mother's funeral, an inquest established yesterday.

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen hanged himself after taking a cocktail of cocaine, sleeping pills and tranquillisers, an inquest heard today.

Fashion has lost its greatest showman, a man who not only art directed the most memorable fashion experiences of the past 15 years and tirelessly pushed at the boundaries of technical innovation, but who was also a couturier in the traditional sense, always demonstrating a respect for handcraftsmanship and the art of dressmaking that was unrivalled.

The smoky aroma of Diptyque Feu de Bois filled the air as guests filed into an elegant townhouse in the 8th Arrondissement yesterday to view the collection that Alexander McQueen started but never lived to complete.

Alexander McQueen has posthumously won a top design award for his spring and summer 2010 fashion collection.

The 1960 science-fiction novel A Canticle for Leibowitz concerns a community of Latin-speaking monks surviving in an America devastated by nuclear war.

For those not fortunate enough to be attending London Fashion Week in person, all the key shows will be available to watch live on the official website, and next week, on www.independent.co.uk.

Heartfelt tributes were paid to the lasting legacy of designer Alexander McQueen as London Fashion Week officially opened in the capital today.

Alexander McQueen's label will live on despite the death of the designer, his parent company said today.

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen hanged himself in his wardrobe after leaving a note at the scene, an inquest heard today.

Fashion isn't usually a matter of life and death. People who work in fashion take it incredibly seriously, but you have to be a stylist or a fashion editor to care passionately about the cut of a pair of trousers. So I wouldn't be surprised if many people were baffled last week when they heard fashion industry insiders responding to news of the death of the British designer, Alexander McQueen. Even making allowances for the fact that some of the interviewees knew him personally and were speaking while the shock of his death was still raw, they struggled for a language which would make sense to ordinary human beings; if you weren't acquainted with McQueen's work, you might come away with the idea that he put men in bottom-exposing "bumster" trousers – or that he was a wayward genius.