St. Paul’s Cathedral was a fitting venue for the grand memorial service for the late Lee Alexander McQueen, who took his own life last February at age 40.

“It was a life lived in the public gaze, but it was as vulnerable and retiring as it was glamorous,” the Reverend Canon Giles Fraser told the 1,200 guests, who included Sarah Jessica Parker, Daphne Guinness, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Karen Elson, Stella Tennant, Stella McCartney, Hussein Chalayan, Antonio Berardi, Roland Mouret, Philip Treacy and Shaun Leane. “Despite the dazzle of his world, he never forgot his East End roots and how much he owed to his loved ones,” said Fraser.

“All of it was absolutely fitting, just beautiful, and typically Lee didn’t show up,” said Guinness with a smile from beneath her black veil, referring to the late designer’s tendency to cancel at the last minute, or pull a no-show. “I was like ‘Lee, where are you? You should be here.’”

“It was perfect,” Parker said of the service. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything in the world. It was just a wonderful way to remember him. It was just beautiful.”