It’s a surprise in the fashion world. Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen, is leaving the fashion house after 26 years of loyal service. The British designer, aged 49, took over from the iconic founder a few months after his death in 2010.
In a press release, the luxury group Kering announces that the spring-summer 2024 show, which will take place in Paris during Fashion Week on September 30, will therefore be its last, without further explanation. The company specifies that Sarah Burton’s successor will be announced “in due course”.
“She preserved and continued Lee’s legacy”
“I am immensely grateful to Sarah, and would like to personally thank her for the work she has done over the past two decades, first alongside Lee Alexander McQueen, where her role was instrumental in his success, then as creative director since 2010,” commented Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, as the French conglomerate attempts a major transformation against LVMH, its biggest rival.
“Thanks to her experience, her sensitivity and her talent, Sarah has continued to evolve the artistic expression of this emblematic house. She has preserved and perpetuated Lee’s legacy, his attention to detail and his unique vision, while adding her personal and highly creative touch,” concludes Salma Hayek’s husband. Gianfilippo Testa, managing director of Alexander McQueen, praised the talent of the designer who “wrote such an important chapter in the history of the house of Alexander McQueen”.
“I am very proud of everything I have done”
Sarah Burton took her first steps in the fashion house in 1996 during an internship while studying at Central Saint Martins in London. The discreet designer rose to notoriety in 2011 with the Calais lace wedding dress of the Princess of Wales, who still calls on her for special occasions. Her style, poetic and gothic, combines very structured dark pieces and vaporous dresses stitched with romantic tulle.
“I am very proud of everything I have done and of my incredible team at Alexander McQueen (…) They are my family and this is where I have lived for the last 26 years. I would like to thank François-Henri Pinault for believing in me and offering me this wonderful opportunity. Above all, I want to thank Lee Alexander McQueen. He taught me so much and I will be forever grateful to him. I look forward to the future and my next chapter, and I will always carry this precious moment with me,” she said Sarah Burton.