Joe Bonamassa

By Anny Shaw, Paul Harris and Richard Simpson

Kate Moss arrives at Alexander McQueen's funeral at Saint Paul's Church in London's Knightsbridge

Everywhere you looked, there were little flashes of his legacy.

Someone wore an Alexander McQueen dress. Naomi Campbell chose the kind of high heels that looked as if he’d designed them specially with her in mind.

His grieving relatives sported the tartan that became the 40-year-old fashion star’s trademark.

So when they said farewell to Lee Alexander McQueen yesterday, they kept a promise to ensure that his name lived on.

In the saddest fashion parade London has seen, the clothes that made the taxi driver’s son famous went discreetly on show at his funeral.

Not that his clothes - or the celebrities for which he created them - were allowed to steal the day.

That belonged yesterday to a family which lost not so much the man so many had hailed as a genius, but a son, brother, uncle, and friend.

High priests and priestesses of the fashion world were among the guests and photographers invited to take pictures as they came and went.

The ceremony was attended Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Stella McCartney.

Naomi Campbell, left, in Alexander McQueen, and Stella McCartney arrive at the church to pay respects to their close friend

The fashion designer's father Ronald was joined by his five children at the ceremony, which comes two weeks after the 40-year-old's death.

Sam Taylor-Wood and boyfriend Aaron Johnson were also among the friends who gathered at Saint Paul's Church in Knightsbridge to pay their respects, as well as heiress Daphne Guinness, who wore a dramatic cape from the designer's autumn 2002 catwalk in tribute.

Naomi was escorted by a friend to the intimate funeral service

Daphne Guinness arrives for the service at Saint Paul's Church in Knightsbridge in a billowing black cape from the designer's autumn 2002 collection

Heiress and haute couture aficionado Daphne Guinness also wore a black veil

It is expected a larger memorial service open to McQueen’s supporters will take place later this year, although no date or venue has been confirmed.

'We are focusing right now on the Paris show, which takes place on March 9,' a spokesman for the label said.

An inquest heard last week how the 40-year-old hanged himself in the wardrobe of his London home.

He was known from comments left on his Twitter page to have been distressed by the death of his mother, Joyce, and killed himself on the eve of her funeral.

His sister Janet McQueen, from Hornchurch, Essex, who was among the mourners today, identified his body.

Several members of the family arrived wearing the McQueen tartan, a feature of the designer's memorable Highland Rape catwalk show in 2006.

Born in Lewisham, McQueen, whose real first name was Lee, was the son of a London cab driver and the youngest of six children.

Though his career officially began at the age of 16, he often recalled his earliest memory when, aged three, he drew a picture of a dress on the wall of his family's council house in the East End of London.

After graduating from Central Saint Martins in his early twenties, McQueen's first collection was bought in its entirety by legendary fashion editor Isabella Blow, who would go on to become his friend and mentor.

Blow convinced him to change his name from Lee to Alexander and after Icelandic singer Bjork wore an early design for the cover of her album, Homogenic, the Alexander McQueen label was born.

After five years as head designer at Givenchy, McQueen went on to create a fashion empire under his own label.

McQueen was a four-time winner of the British Designer of the Year award and was made a CBE in 2003.

Following the designer's death, thousands of tributes poured in from both inside and outside the fashion world.

Victoria Beckham, who has often been photographed in McQueen designs said at the time of his death: 'McQueen was a master of fashion, creative genius and an inspiration.

Sam Taylor-Wood clasps boyfriend Aaron Johnson's hand as the couple leave the ceremony

Lee McQueen with his mother Joyce: The designer killed himself on the eve of her funeral

'Today the fashion industry has lost a true great. An icon of all time. He made all he touched beautiful and will be desperately missed.

'My heart is very much with his family and friends at this very sad time.'

British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman said: 'He was the most brilliant designer of his generation and his influence can be seen in the way that women dressed over the last 15 years.

'It is an incredible loss not only for British fashion but for fashion the world over.'

Singer Lady Gaga paid silent tribute to McQueen by posting a photo of them hugging on her Twitter page.

London Fashion Week opened last week with British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman leading a minute’s silence in tribute to the designer.