Alexander McQueen could appear on the next £20 note
The British fashion designer and artist is one step closer to becoming immortalised by appearing on British currency.
The late star has received an official nomination to replace the bank note’s current occupant, Scottish economist Adam Smith, after the criteria for an “entrant from the world of art or fashion” was announced back in May.
However, McQueen faces some stiff competition, with over 435 other deceased British artists also receiving nominations to appear on the £20 note.
The full list includes a host of famed artists, including photographers Cecil Beaton and Corinne Day, fashion designer Thomas Burberry, and famed artist Lucien Freud, among others.
The Bank of England revealed it has received a whopping 29,701 nominations in total; the short-list of 436 will be whittled down to between three to five names over the next twelve months.
The note’s new occupants will be announced in spring 2016, and are expected to go into full circulation by 2020, following a newly-chosen £10 note design featuring Jane Austen.
Mr McQueen, who was openly gay, was one of the biggest names in fashion before he killed himself in 2010.
If he is picked to appear on the note, the designer will be the first openly gay person to do so. He would also be a rare contemporary choice.
However, some have called for another prominent woman to be chosen, as Elizabeth Fry is set to be replaced by Winston Churchill on the £5 note.
