On Monday, L’Wren Scott, American fashion designer and longtime girlfriend of Mick Jagger, was found dead of an apparent suicide in her New York City apartment. The 49-year-old’s body was discovered hanging by her favorite scarf around 10 a.m. While a suicide note has not yet been found, police do not suspect foul play.
Scott, born Laura “Luann” Bambrough, was raised in Utah by adoptive Mormon parents. At thirteen, Scott—who was known for her incredibly long legs—was already six-feet tall, and she began crafting clothes to fit her lengthy stature. In 1985, an 18-year-old Scott captured the eye of fashion photographer Bruce Weber while skiing; soon after, Weber shot her for a Calvin Klein shoot, and her career took off. She walked the Paris runways for Thierry Mugler and Chanel and landed a slew of editorials and campaigns, most notably, the Pretty Polly “clock” campaign shot by David Bailey.
In the mid-1990s, Scott left Paris for Los Angeles, first to head public relations for Prada, and then to embark on a successful career as a celebrity stylist, dressing the likes of Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman, Ellen Barkin, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and working closely alongside legendary photographer Herb Ritts. She designed costumes for the likes of Ocean’s Thirteen and Eyes Wide Shut, and won the hearts of countless celebrity A-listers—particularly, Mick Jagger.
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The pair met in 2001 and embarked on a romance of glitz and glamour that lasted over a decade. “L’Wren is very independent and would not take any nonsense from anyone no matter how famous they were,” Scott’s adoptive mother Lula Bambrough told a newspaper in 2003. “She usually knows what she wants and she gets it. It doesn’t surprise me at all that she’s tamed Mick. She is very much her own woman and it would be my guess that is why this Mick Jagger likes her.” The two seemingly supported each other’s endeavors—Jagger frequented the front row at Scott’s fashion shows, while Scott designed costumes for The Rolling Stones’ “50 and Counting” tour. “Mick loves what I wear, and always has something to say about it!” Scott told The Daily Beast in 2009. “Look at the way he dresses! I don’t think there’s a more fashion-conscious man in the world.”
Scott’s Hollywood success translated into her own fashion line, which she launched in 2006. “I’m not interested in making clothes for twelve-year-olds,” she said of her overtly strong, sexy, and feminine aesthetic. “These are for women.” Barneys New York’s Julie Gilhart told W magazine that Scott’s pieces “are the kind of clothes that make women feel beautiful and alluring;” actress Christina Hendricks told The Telegraph, “L’Wren’s clothes make you feel like a sexy pin-up, a sophisticated lady and a rockstar all at once. She designs for how women want to look and for what men want to look at.”
In 2010, Scott launched a beauty line with Lancôme, which included her signature lip color, a dark, sultry Bordeaux, and last December, the designer collaborated with retailer Banana Republic on a holiday capsule collection.
In Februrary, Scott surprisingly cancelled her London Fashion Week presentation at the last-minute, citing production delays. However, a “fashion insider” told The New York Post, “I knew something was wrong when L’Wren canceled her London Fashion Week show. That would have been so important to her. She was very prolific on Instagram and recently had gone quiet and hadn’t been posting so much.”
“You’ll see the most perfect person and you are like, ‘God, she’s, like, perfect,’” the designer told Harper’s Bazaar in 2011. “And then she’ll tell you everything that’s not perfect. Everyone has their own special set of problems—in their own minds.”
