Sarah Burton was Alexander McQueen’s “right hand”. She had worked closely with the legendary designer for over 14 years. Having joined McQueen in 1996 as an intern, she subsequently returned after her graduation in 1997. Sarah’s talent shone at McQueen and 3 years after, in 2000, she was appointed head of womenswear and was Alexander’s aide up until his tragic suicide in February 2010. “If you didn’t know how to do something, Lee made you take on the challenge and would teach you how, or leave you to figure out how to do it yourself”, she said of him. Following the shock from its founder’s death, the label trusted Sarah to become the new Creative Director of McQueen.
Her first collection, presented in Paris in September 2010, was an imediate success.
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Her latest collection for McQueen sparked speculation about her designing the royal wedding dress of Catherine Middleton, since there were obvious influences from royal Elisabethan fashion.
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Designing for celebrities
Sarah Burton has designed pieces for for Michelle Obama, Cate Blanchett, Lady Gaga and Gwyneth Paltrow early in her career. Designing for a historical event of international significance opens though a whole new chapter for the British designer.
As reported by Vogue.co.uk, Burton said about designing the wedding dress of Princess Catherine: “It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every moment of it. It was such an incredible honour to be asked, and I am so proud of what we and the Alexander McQueen team have created. I am delighted that the dress represents the best of British craftsmanship. Alexander McQueen’s designs are all about bringing contrasts together to create startling and beautiful clothes and I hope that by marrying traditional fabrics and lacework, with a modern structure and design we have created a beautiful dress for Catherine on her wedding day”.
Personal life
Sarah Burton was born in Manchester, one of five children. After completing an art foundation course at Manchester Polytechnic, and opting to pursue fashion over studies in fine art, she studied Print Fashion at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London before been offered a position at Alexander McQueen, as mentioned above. She now lives in St Johns Wood, with her photographer husband, David Burton
