The Telegraph is reporting that British designer Gareth Pugh is the front-runner to be the new creative director of Alexander McQueen and the company in charge of the fashion label is believed to have identified a successor.

Gareth Pugh Spring 2010

Gareth Pugh, 28, is said to be the designer that PPR wants as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen, of which it owns 51% of the brand. After McQueen’s suicide at the age of 40, Francois-Henri Pinault, the chairman of PPR, pledged to sustain his “genius”.

If selected to take over the reigns where the brilliant Alexander McQueen left off, he would no doubt have some very big shoes to fill.

Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga are fans of the Sunderland-born designer, who shares McQueen’s theatricality. Pugh also has a highly influential cheerleader in Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Pugh presented his Fall 2010 collection earlier this week during Paris Fashion Week in what the Telegraph described as “witchy-gothic.

WWD sang Pugh’s praises saying, “In the span of his short career, Gareth Pugh has quickly established himself as a master of the Goth genre.”

“That small, ultraspecific audience won’t find a leather jacket better than the black, molded styles Pugh showed Wednesday anywhere.”

Style.com was also impressed saying, “Gareth Pugh’s emblematic chevron is also one of the symbols of Art Deco, and the glamour of the Deco years in Hollywood was one of the sub-currents in the designer’s latest collection.”

“That meant he continued to move away from the hard alien edge that was once his signature in favor of a more sinuous line.” The mostly black collection featured thick molded wares that sculpted and enveloped the body in thick folds.

Stay tuned for more news as Alexander McQueen’s final presentation is shown in Paris next week.