Factbox: Five facts about British designer Alexander McQueen

(Reuters) - British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead at his London home on Thursday.

Here are five key facts about McQueen:

* McQueen, 40, was known for his controversial collections and unconventional catwalk shows, including his autumn/winter 1995 collection "Highland Rape," which featured disheveled looking models in torn clothing.

* Born in working-class East London, McQueen, the youngest of six children, dropped out of school at 16 to devote himself to fashion, taking an apprenticeship at a Savile Row tailors.

* After graduating from London's prestigious fashion school Central St Martins, he soon firmly established himself as a promising young fashion designer, winning British Designer of the Year Award four times between 1996 and 2003.

* Openly gay McQueen was appointed head designer at couture house Givenchy in 1996, succeeding John Galliano. He promptly dismissed the label's founder, Hubert de Givenchy, as "irrelevant" and subsequently, his first Givenchy line bombed.

* In 2001 McQueen, who has flagship stores in New York, Milan, London and Los Angeles, sold 51 percent of his company to Givenchy rival, the Gucci group. He left Givenchy a year later.

(Compiled by Kylie MacLellan and David Cutler; editing by Keith Weir)