Sarah Burton is stepping down from the house of Alexander McQueen. After Lee McQueen passed away in 2010, Burton was quickly declared the heir apparent for the label. Burton been a quiet creative director for 13 years, rarely giving interviews or responding to criticism or compliments. Personally, I never thought that Burton really carried on McQueen’s vision, but she stabilized the brand and made it more palatable to a larger swath of consumers. I also hate that this news is being framed as “Princess Kate’s wedding dress designer is retiring.”
The designer behind the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress has announced she is stepping down as creative director of fashion house Alexander McQueen after 13 years, prompting speculation she may set up her own label.
Sarah Burton has dressed the Princess throughout the most significant moments in her royal life – from her historic 2011 wedding dress, to the red chiffon gown she wore in her 40th birthday portraits in 2022 – and fashion industry insiders think she may now set up her own namesake brand creating private orders for the royal.
Burton had worked under the label’s founder, Lee McQueen, for more than 14 years before his untimely death in February 2010, and was appointed as his successor that May. She is credited for successfully continuing his design legacy, adapting the house’s darkly romantic codes to suit a new generation of fans – including bringing in the Princess as a star client.
The story, within the fashion industry, is not “will Sarah Burton start her own label,” it’s “wtf is going on at Kering?” Kering is the massive fashion/fragrance conglomerate which wholly owns the McQueen label and wholly or partly owns dozens of other labels, plus major fragrance lines. Kering is doing a major house-cleaning across many of its best-known brands, and that’s what this looks like – like Burton was forced out by Kering as part of a move to make all of Kering’s brands more profitable and palatable to modern consumers. Which is actually bad news for McQueen’s biggest client, the Princess of Wales. Kate often used Burton as her personal atelier, all to make ridiculous button-covered coat dresses and Downton Abbey cosplay. Kering is like: yeah, that sh-t isn’t profitable long-term, and we need to shake up the brand so “McQueen” won’t be synonymous with this dated, frumpy Keen Kate-style.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN, Backgrid.
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- Date: 13/12/12 PH: Hannah McKay Pictured: Sarah Burton Caption: Investiture ceremony takes place at Buckingham Palace today. Recipients included, Sarah Burton, creative director for Alexander McQueen who received an OBE for services to the British Fashion Industry.,Image: 546920815, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 917 704 9816 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Sarah Burton attends the HaITer’s Bazaar Woman Of The Year Awards at Claridge’s Hotel, London, England, UK on Tuesday 4th November, 2014.,Image: 554851530, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Handout photo issued by Clarence House of The Bride and Groom in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after their wedding. . Picture date: Friday April 29, 2011. Wedding. Photo credit should read: Hugo Burnand/Clarence House NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. NO MERCHANDISE OR COMMERCIAL USE
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- Handout photo issued by Clarence House of The Bride and Groom in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the centre with attendants, (clockwise from bottom right) The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones, Miss Eliza Lopes, Miss Grace van Cutsem, Lady Louise Windsor, Master Tom Pettifer, Master William Lowther-Pinkerton. . Picture date: Friday April 29, 2011. Wedding. Photo credit should read: Hugo Burnand/Clarence House NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. NO MERCHANDISE OR COMMERCIAL USE
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Alexandra Palace for the Earthshot Prize in London. Pictured: Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton BACKGRID USA 17 OCTOBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: JOHN RAINFORD / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prince and Princess of Wales attend the BAFTA Film Awards 2023 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK. Pictured: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince of Wales BACKGRID USA 19 FEBRUARY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prince and Princess of Wales attend the BAFTA Film Awards 2023 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK. Pictured: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince of Wales BACKGRID USA 19 FEBRUARY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prince and Princess of Wales attend the BAFTA Film Awards 2023 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK. Pictured: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince of Wales BACKGRID USA 19 FEBRUARY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton – Parliament SquareDepartures London, England – 29.04.11 Featuring: Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge Where: London, United Kingdom When: 29 Apr 2011 Credit: WENN
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- The Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Westminster Abbey, London. London, England – 29.04.11 Where: London, United Kingdom When: 29 Apr 2011 Credit: WENN **Only available for publication in UK, USA**
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- This image is embargoed to 0001 Friday July 22 for Print Media, all other Broadcast and online media the image is embargoed to 0600 Friday July 22. The Duchess of Cambridges wedding dress, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, before it goes on display at Buckingham Palace, London, during the annual summer opening. The Duchess of Cambridge’s intricately decorated wedding dress, designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, received a rapturous reception. For months, it was fashion’s best-kept secret. Even the team of embroiderers at Hampton Court Palace working on the gown did not know the identity of the designer until shortly before the public announcement. But as soon as the Duchess appeared leaving the Goring Hotel and then entering Westminster Abbey on her wedding day on April 29, the secret was out. The bridal gown featured lace appliqué floral detail and was made of ivory and white satin gazar, with a skirt that resembled “an opening flower” with white satin gazar arches and pleats. Its train measured just 9ft – modest in comparison with many previous royal brides. The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework. Individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered on to ivory silk-tulle.
The only one of those dresses that I liked was the lavender one. Thought it was beautiful at the time & it still holds up. Egg looks ridiculous in his velvet jacket
Meh.
She never rose to the amazing, -amazing- feather gowns, skulls, and – remember the season he put massive antlers on the models? Sigh.
Not like Kate would ever show up swapping a fascinater hat for a fake moose rack, but….. she was pale shadow of the original guy.
Same here. McQueen was a genius and his brand was unique. Burton is neither a genius nor original. My feeling is that the Alexander McQueen design house died upon McQueen’s death.
@PunkyMomma – exactly. McQueen was one of a kind. No one was ever going to fill his shoes, but Burton always struck me as a very bad choice.
In Burton’s defense she could do the one thing that Lee prided himself on & he was the one who taught her. She could cut fabric. It is an art. Chanel could do it & Lee could do it and he passed it on to Sarah. It makes an outfit look just a lovely standing still as it does when the garment is in motion. I don’t think Burton was ever suppose to ‘carry on Lee’s vision’ I think she was there to make sure the house survived. Most won’t remember but the whole situation was a shock to all. He left to go dress his mother for her funeral the next day & never came back. The house was in shock, & Sarah was the unexpected heir apparent. I think she did a nice job at McQueen but the corporate world wants the sale and the masses which is why fashion houses have all suffered. Much like Versace has survived his death but it is not Gianni’s Versace and it shows.
Who knows, maybe she will go on the royal payroll…I mean isn’t she already?
McQueen was a singular talent and an artist. His vision and execution was remarkable. Burton has kept the name alive, but the brand is nothing like it was when the man himself was at the helm. I remember poring over the spring and fall editorials in Vogue (when I was late teens/early 20’s and fancied myself a Fashion Girl) and his aesthetic was astonishing. Incredibly gifted and gone too soon.
I went to the retrospective at the V&A and it was truly incredible to see those pieces up close. He was an absolute genius with fabric. My friend and I thought there were only three rooms and we were happy at that point so it was an amazing surprise to find a whole load more in the exhibition. Since his time McQueen has been fine but absolutely not the same house. To this day I am surprised at the choice of Burton. I get the need to make things profitable but it felt like they should have changed the name at that point.
If I had never seen McQueen in it’s hey day I would be completed turned off by that fashion house. Kate being synonymous with McQueen really ruined the edgy sexy brand it once held when Mr. McQueen was alive.
Will Kate stay with McQueen now? Was Kering upset that McQueen was exposed to be interfering with Givenchy’s designing of Meghan’s flower girl dresses?
I clicked to write, I hope the new designer honors McQueen anti-monarchy – if in fact he was anti-monarchist.
Wasn’t Sarah Burton running McQueen like her own brand anyway. I doubt if she has maintained Mcqueen’s old fans. Tons of people didn’t want her taking over in the first place. If I’m remembering correctly she just kinda slid in.
Didn’t he used to write things inside suits when he worked on Saville Row?
The rumor was he cut a suit for the Prince of Wales (now KCIII) inside the lining he stitched “Chuck is a C U next Tuesday”. Its never been confirmed but I like the story so I believe it. He was not a fan of the royals & he was angry with Diana over her promising to write the preface for a book & she backed out over some imagery of the Queen which was included in the book. I remember Elton was pretty angry at her too & it was Gianni Versace’s funeral that healed their rift
I’m sure the staff at McQueen will breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.
Sarah Burton made something generic out of an edgily visionary brand, and muted everything that Lee ever stood for, which made McQueen into something that was no longer on the forefront of fashion.
That said, SB was even more boring than I remembered. I just saw some kind of retrospective elsewhere of her work, and she was just as obsessed with Meghan as is Kopy Keen. SB copied the halterneck design from Stella McCartney’s reception dress for a wedding dress for McQueen.
Nothing personal against her, apart from that, and I hope she’ll find a job with a fashion house that leans more into simple, classic, clean lines.
How is using a halter neck on a wedding dress “copying” anyone? Halter neck dresses (and wedding dresses) have existed for ages. Just because Meghan wore a dress with a basic style element and then somebody else produced a piece with the same basic style element doesn’t make it a “copy.”
Lee’s legacy was incredible but having just been in an Alexander McQueen outlet- their ready to wear was spectacular- and not a whiff of keenergy.
It was all exposed corsetry and incredible seaming and tailoring. I wanted everything (lol just not in black as i don’t suit it).
It was also overtly sexy- def a design signature of the house.
Not sure how Kant is a good brand collab for them and hope that whoever comes next gets the right famous faces and that the house will double down on the construction, the details, the corsets, the death, the sex of the original
Her honeycomb collection in 2012 was pretty amazing and in line with McQueen’s vision. But there wasn’t anything memorable after that and she kept returning to the bees/honeycomb thing until it was kind of played out.
Tbh I really liked the old bones wedding dress when I first saw it. That high lace collar was fantastic and lace was an interesting choice for the covered arm rule. The way the collar dipped into that rather low neckline even drew attention away from the fact that it was a corny princess dress (ugh that bustline!) underneath.
I think Kate loves her bc she gives in to Kate’s banal, tasteless demands, but makes it “fashion” … more or less.
Keen’s dress was Princess Margaret’s wedding dress with lace sleeves and white on white embroidery on the bottom. Nothing amazing there and that veil looked terrible, like a sheer curtain was subbed in at the last minute.
I’n not surprised to see Burton leave McQueen. While she did stabilize and make McQueen more accessible the label needs to get it edginess back. Kate has always water downed everything from the label. The label did more for Kate than she ever did for it. With regards to Kering, it seems to be looking at its past as a conglomerate. I just saw that it bought a 30% stake of CAA.
good bye and don’t let the door hit ya. sarah burton copying multiple of meghan’s looks for kate and her own profit, (including her reception dress bar for bar), after having trashed another womn’s vision for the bridesmaides at HER wedding will never not leave a bad taste in my mouth. she had a big hand in colonizer kate’s crap and ripping off other designers works.
Good. No more of her continually recyling the skull motif across the lower range items. She was pretty dire at the top end of the scale, as well, imo.
McQueen’s vision was edgy and not everyone’s cup of tea. McQueen himself was anything but conservative. I’ve always felt, along with other posters here, that Burton made the fashion house quite conservative, and being associated so closely with Kate did the fashion house no favours. It certainly cannot be seen as innovative and edgy at the moment. How can you be when it has becaome rather synonymous in people’s minds with coat-dresses. In one of Meghan’s first outings with Harry (I think it was to WellChild Awards) she wore some chic McQueen pieces and probably surprised a lot of people not familiar with McQueen pre-Burton.
She killed the McQueen brand so good riddance. I’m just surprised it took this long for her to get her marching orders.
McQueen needs to be brought back from the brink. I remember the edginess. That Bird of Prey coat, incredible. Kate could never.
Also wtf that birthday portrait is SO PHOTOSHOPPED she doesn’t even look like herself.
Kering is owned by François Pinault, aka father-in-law of Salma Hayek.
I like her designs for Kate, who aims to dress in a pretty/conservative/non offensive way. This is not criticism of Kate, I understand why this is expected of her fashion sense.
However it is a criticism of Burton. I do believe she made McQueen more palatable for more people, maybe made more money? I don’t know. But the fire, the uniqueness of the brand is gone. Burton is a simple designer.
Praise dance! She defanged that brand. Good riddance!!! She stayed on too long.
The sad part of this McQueen story is that Lee McQueen would not have dressed Kate Middleton had he lived. Sarah Burton all but killed this label by using Kate as its muse. McQueen was a label for those who liked edgy fashion. His shows were out of this world and not for the faint hearted. He refused to dress the likes of Victoria Beckham so I cannot see how he would have wanted the Kate association. Let’s hope they get someone who can revive this label once again because between Mumbles and Burton, they’ve nearly killed of Lee McQueen’s legacy.