An exhibition dedicated to fashion designer Alexander McQueen has proved so popular the Victoria and Albert Museum will open all night for the first time in its long history.

More than 345,000 people have visited the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty show since it opened at the museum in March To help cope with demand, the museum that has been in its present South Kensington site since 1857 will open through the night for the final two weekends ahead of its run ending on August 2.

Its director Martin Roth said: "We knew that Savage Beauty would be very popular, but the response has been even greater than we imagined.

"It is an extraordinary exhibition and I urge anyone who has not yet visited, wherever they are in the world, to make a trip to the V&A to experience this very special show.

“It is not going on tour to other venues so our aim is to provide as many people as possible with the opportunity to see it by opening through the night for the last two weekends.

"This will be the first time we have opened the V&A around the clock and we certainly think it is an event worth getting out of bed for."

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Celebrity visitors to the show have included Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West and Maria Sharapova.

The exhibition fills 10 rooms in the museum and is a celebration of the work of the man who left school at 16 but rose through the fashion industry to become one of the world's leading designers.

The son of a London taxi driver, McQueen was aged 40 when he killed himself the day before his mother's funeral after struggling with depression.

The fashion house that bears his name remains hugely influential and the Duchess of Cambridge's intricately decorated wedding dress was designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen.