THE MCQUEEN EXHIBITION IS COMING HOME!!!!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large



Alexander McQueen AW1O (Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty)

 
With the petition to Bring Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty Home in full swing (with the Guardian, Huffington Post, StyleBubble and Grazia picking it up, the number who've signed sits at 2000 +), it seemed only right to find out what the team at McQueen HQ are thinking. So I put a call in to the people there, people I've known an almost indecently long time.

It goes without saying that the McQueen team in London want the exhibition home, this is their town as much as it was his, they just can't talk about all the machinations...yet. The conversation had with them would, if I were to share it here, be full of blacked out, off-the-records bits, so I asked them for a statement of the things they could say and here it is!

"Alexander McQueen appreciates the huge amount of interest the public has shown towards the Savage Beauty exhibition. We have been in discussion with a number of major venues in London for some time now however nothing has been finalised. Please be assured that an official announcement will be made the moment we confirm our plans for London."

Success!

Alexander MQueen SS1993 (Image courtesy of Winter Phoenix's Flickr)

The details are still sketchy, but it now seems certain that Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty will take place at a venue to be confirmed in London during 2013, the 20th anniversary of Lee's business. (He started his business a few months after showing his St Martins MA graduation collection named "Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims" in 1992).

The rumour mill is already throwing up some surprising potential venues: Somerset House, The Truman Brewery (where the real Jack the Ripper indeed stalked his victims), The Tower of London, The London Dungeons, Battersea Power Station and some traditional art venues too.

The McQueen team promise to keep us all informed of any developments, so you'll know when I know.

Alexander McQueen AW06/07 (Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty)

THE WEEK IN FASHION 15th-19th AUGUST

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

We've been having an exciting week here at Fashion Editor at Large; on Wednesday we were helping put the finishing touches to Mary Portas' fabulous new concept store in House of Fraser (a project which the FashEd has been very involved in. She is the genius behind 'armery'!). If you're anywhere near Oxford Street then take yourself to the orange lift from where you will be transported into a retail narnia where bellboys and brilliant stylists (passionate, enthusiaistic and knowledgable) will ensure a stress free shopping experience.

Mary with a member of her mannequin army (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

Secondly, our #BRINGMCQUEENEXHIBITIONHOME campaign is really gaining momentum. This week GraziaDaily, Handbag , Evening Standard and The Guardian have all joined us on our mission. While from a personal perspective we might be gunning for this because of our love of great design and beautiful clothes, we passionately believe that this is an exhibition which is important for so many reasons besides that; Lee McQueen's story is an incredibly inspiring one given where he began, what he achieved and his path to those achievements.His legacy will form an integral part of the UK's cultural heritage for many, many years to come so it is only right that we begin as we mean to go on.

Rosamund Urwin's Evening Standard piece from Thursday.

This week, the Global Language Monitor has decided that London has taken over from New York as the world's fashion capital- tell us something we didn't know! This shift has been explained as a consequence of the Royal Wedding and Kate's extremely wise choice to commision Sarah Burton at McQueen to create her wedding dress. This fact really does make bringing the exhibition to London a complete no-brainer. As a graduate of Art History, and clearly someone whose first love is not cutting edge fashion, Kate is the perfect example of how McQueen resonates as a brilliant artist as well as fashion designer.

The eyes of the world on the Middletons in McQueen (Image from Zimbio.com)

Legendary Vogue and Harper's Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland is to be the subject of a book, a documentary AND an exhibition at Venice's Fortuny Museum. Vreeland is a standout figure from 60s and 70s, known for her very particular style and modus operandi. In the photo below, I can't help but think of Miuccia Prada and her banana earrings- I know Vreeland's jewellery is a shark's tooth, or similar, but the quirkiness is just as cool. We can't wait to absorb all we can from these upcoming Vreeland themed projects, in  the meantime, some rather brilliant quotes.

A style tip - 'I always wear my sweater back to front, it is so much more flattering'

On taste- 'I'm a great believer in vulgarity - if it's got vitality.  A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika.  We all need a splash of bad taste - it's hearty it's healthy, it's physical.  I think we could use more of it.  NO taste is what I'm against'

Vreeland, animated (image from nymag.com)

London College of Fashion represents yet another reason why our city fully deserves its global fashion capital status. So, we are thrilled that the College is to open a pop-up shop on Carnaby Street to coincide with London Fashion Week. Among the designers whose wares will be sold in the space are William Tempest, Ada Zanditon, Beatrice Boyle and Hesan Hejazi. Opening night is on September 8th (Vogue's Fashion Night Out) and the shop will be part of the Carnaby Catwalk event on the 10th.

William Tempest's AW11, illustrated by Victoria Lyons (Image from thefashionscou.blogspot.com)

Nicholas Ghesquiere was interviewed this week by WWD. Bridget Foley's piece offers some particularly notable insights into the development of Balenciaga over the past few years- it seems models have had a lot to do with the label's direction. In fact, if it hadn't been for models spying the prototype of the now massively recognisable Lariat, then it may not ever have been produced on any great scale at all. Ghesquiere tells Foley that 'The handbag element was and is a great element of a growing business'. Balenciaga (as a business) had recognised this and the lariat was simply one of a number of potentials which had been dismissed. Until, that is,'every girl who was walking [the show], including Kate [Moss] came in and was like, ‘What is that? Is it vintage? Is it something that you found at the flea market?’ I was like ‘No, it’s a handbag that we prototyped but just didn’t produce.’

Image from allure-allure.blogspot.com

 Ghesquiere also credits Gisele with steering him away from crazy high heels and back to flats; 'I understood sometimes the pain on the feet... the idea was to have this crazy casting with Gisele and Amber Valleta and Carolyn [Murphy]. They were not used to walking with heels any more. Gisele was worried; she would not work with my heels' These comments are an invaluable insight into the power of the model to override, or drive the creative vision. Ghesquiere clearly believed that the models were more important to Balenciaga than the high heel. Maybe this is also about a woman's perspective though; Ghesquiere admits to exploring the house's archives and finding lots low-heeled shoes, he understood that these would be more comfortable for a woman to wear and such assumptions were confirmed by Gisele, and so the Balenciaga flat was re-born.

Gisele walking for Balenciaga SS11, in flats (Image from dailymail.co.uk)

 After the very exciting news that Isabel Marant is to open a store in London, we were also thrilled to hear that Helmut Lang is also getting in on the act with their biggest European store opening on Westbourne Grove on September 1st. A Helmut Lang shearling coat is top of my AW fantasy shopping list, as modelled by Saskia de Brauw.

Helmut Lang AW11 (Image from Style.com)

Finally, CONGRATULATIONS to Micheal Kors who married Lance Le Pere this week on a beach in New York state. Kors said 'To marry someone as wonderful and special to me as Lance barefoot on a glorious beach is more than I could have dreamed of''. I concur entirely, for I would also like to marry someone as beautiful as Lance, barefoot on a beach.

Lance and Michael (Image from WWD.com)

SIGN THE PETITION #bringMcQueenexhibitionhome

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

This campiagn is starting to gain momentum now. Grazia magazine is supporting the petition on Grazia Daily, Katie Grand of LOVE Magazine, Lucy Yeomans of Harpers Bazaar and Susie Lau of Style Bubble are helping raise awareness so we can #bringMcQueenexhibitionhome. Please add this widget to your blogs, and tweet. This is the beginning of the campaign. It grows from here... we can make it happen.

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THE WEEK IN FASHION 8/8-12/8

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Happy Friday and welcome to our round-up of the week's fashion news. Our aim is to provide you with some relatively light relief from the horrid stories making the headlines this week.

First of all, can I remind you to support our campaign to #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome. Please sign the petition, comment on the blog about why you want to see Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty brought to London and use the hashtag to spread the word on Twitter.

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Christian Louboutin have lost their case against YSL. The Judge decided that a colour cannot be monopolized as a trademark by a single brand, especially in an industry like fashion which depends on the freedom to use colour innovatively. Of course, most people who see a red-soled shoe now automatically associate this with the Louboutin brand. Thus we wonder if any designer now choosing to use a red sole will not confuse the customer anyway, or engender an immediate link with the Louboutin branding. Although you might expect to go a high street shop and buy red soled shoes to imitate the Louboutin look, what would be the motivation to buy a red soled YSL?

Balanciaga's red soles for men (Image from oo0oo.blogspot.com)

The fashion musical chairs saga continues. Now Marc Jacobs' name has been thrown in the hat as a possible contender for the Dior job. The mutterings began after Brazialian site Glamurama claimed that Jacobs has been in talks with Bernard Arnault for a while now and that he may be set to make a choice between his current position at Vuitton and the Dior job. Watch this space... (we wonder when we'll be able to stop saying that?!)

If he moves to Dior, he'll have to scrub that Louis body art right off! (Image from www.johnnyikon.com)

It was worth the wait. The pictures of Kate Moss' wedding are finally in and they are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you haven't seen them for yourself yet then we suggest that you get a a cup of tea and set aside ten minutes to pore through the ultimate wedding album and read Hamish Bowles' report. According to the interview, it was watching 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' which finally inspired Kate to say Yes to Jamie. We're hoping that the happy couple might make a cameo appearence in the next series!

Kate with her gaggle of flower girls. The new issue of American Vogue contains even more images

Kate and Jamie do Mick and Bianca (Images from Vogue.com)

The latest issue of LOVE magazine features an absolutely breathtaking shoot entitled 'What Lies Beneath', which is by far the highlight of the issue. The setting is a dark and eerie lake. The ensemble of models Lara Stone, Mariacarla Boscono, Saskia De Brauw, Kristen McMenamy, Paul Boche, Anais Pouliot, Jed Texas, Guinevere Van Seenus, Xiao Wen Ju and Angus Whitehead pose amphibiously in and around the water world styled by Katie Grand. It has come to our attention that the shoot bears more than a passing resemblance to art photograher Jeff Bark's WoodPecker series. While the LOVE shoot features more acid colours, the shoots share their use of cars and birds as props for their scantily clad models to entwine themselves around. Bark's photos feel more classical and ethereal but the similarities between the two shoots are undeniable. Not sure whether Katie, and the photographers Mert & Marcus intended it as an homage to Barks work, or not. As was asked on beautifully-invisible.com is this inspiration or plagiarism? We're plumping with the former.

LOVE magazine's editorial, shot by Mert and Marcus (Images from www.touchpuppet.com)

A shot from Jeff Bark's Woodpecker series. See more of his work at www.jeffbark.com (Image from dreamersofthedream.blogspot.com)

A car comparison-  the Mert and Marcus shot

Jeff Bark's use of the car/ woodland dichotomy (Image from spreadartculture.com)

Yesterday, the Fash Ed and I popped over to Soho to have a peek at Sarah and Lily Allen's new Lucy In Disguise shop on Lexington Street. Sarah and her Mum, Alison were working their socks off to get everything ready in time for today's opening. The shop has its own hair salon and private shopping area for a more exclusive vintage and Lucy In Disguise own-collection experience. We heartily recommend that you pop down for a browse. You can't miss it as the front is covered in gold sequins so shiny that you really don't need to be a magpie to be drawn in!

Sarah and Lily are embarking on a new era in their Lucy in Disguise project (Image from wardrobemag.wordpress.com)

 We have been highly entertained by the Twitter account @condeelevator this week which delivers delicious snippets from inside the offices of Conde Nast magazines, notably American Vogue. Highlights include-

'Vogue Asst &; AW in packed elevator. VA: Blah blah Duke & Duchess of Windsor-- AW: Cambridge. Duke & Duchess of CAMBRIDGE. VA: I'm sorry.'

'[silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] Summer Intern: "Was that...?" Intern #2: "Yeah" #annawintour'

[SILENCE] [SILENCE] [SILENCE]  (Image from www.matthewstasoff.com)

The account gained a whopping 66,400 followers after just 36 tweets and five days. However, we are devastated to report that the account is already no more. Despite the writer's clear amusement at the goings on in the Conde Nast New York elevator, the Tweeter still 'loves their job' and so decided to stop tweeting. Devastating yes, but understandable given that the powers at Conde Nast were on the hunt for -and closing in on - the culprit.

NEWS JUST IN: Kate Bosworth is starring in Vanessa Bruno's beautiful new campaign video. I'm not sure whether Kate, the clothes or the horses are more stunning. The FashEd is a big fan of director Stefanie di Gusto.

LØV from Vanessa Bruno on Vimeo.

Have wonderful weekends and don't forget to spread the word about Fashion Editor at Large's campaign to #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome.

Share the petition on your own websites, and pass it on.

#bringMcQueenexhibitionhome

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art closed Monday night, and since then there have been articles writing about its unmitigated success.

Here are the facts in a nutshell: Between opening on May 4 and closing on August 8th, the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty attracted 661,409 visitors, ranking it alongside other major Met successes including Mona Lisa (1963) and Treasures of Tutankhamun (1978.) Demand got so huge the Museum extended the exhibition's run by a week, staying open until midnight on the last two nights.

An eight minute film narrated by Savage Beauty Curator Andrew Bolton

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art said:  "Visitors from across the globe have come to see this remarkable exhibition, and we want to keep it open for as many people as possible. Indeed, these midnight hours will mark a fitting conclusion to this powerful exploration of McQueen's work."

This is great for the Met, for Andrew Bolton who curated Savage Beauty, for Anna Wintour who facilitated it, for the McQueen business and its CEO Jonathan Akeroyd.  It was also an achievement for everyone who contributed to or loaned to Savage Beauty, and of course for everyone who visited the exhibition.

But it is not great for anyone who was unable to get to New York to see it.

On Tuesday Imran Amed wrote on his Business of Fashion.com website that the McQueen:Savage beauty exhibition needs to travel the world. But I would like to amend that, and put it out there that the exhibition should just come home, where it belongs.

The fact remains that the exhibition should have been staged in London. It is a well known fact that most British people who have considered the matter think that the McQueen exhibition took place in New York without a forward plan to bring it to London, is a scandal.

Alexander  McQueen FW 2009

So I have humbly started a social media campaign to bring the exhibition back to the place where it belongs, where it should have been in the first place - home to London.

WHY THE MCQUEEN EXHIBITION SHOULD COME HOME

1. Lee Alexander McQueen was born and raised in London by Londoners.
2. He was educated at London's most famous art school St Martins School of Art, and trained on London's most famous tailoring street, Savile Row
3. He lived, worked and was largely inspired by London.
4. He began and made his name and career in London
5. He loved London
6. The Alexander McQueen business is based in London, and directed by an English designer.
6. British people want this

Alexander McQueen SS 1999

I've spoken to the Victoria & Albert Museum, who say "we would love to host the exhibition, we have spoken to the fashion house about it as we really want to present McQueen's work to our huge fashion and design audience here in the UK."

I've spoken to the team at McQueen who say "we have no concrete plans at present but are thrilled with the obvious appreciation of the exhibition at the Met and are waiting until the end of the exhibition before making any further decisions."

So, now its up to us.

Please comment on why you want McQueen: Savage beauty home and sign the petition.

Lets make this happen!  

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Tweet #bringMcQueenexhibitonhome

THE WEEK IN FASHION 1/8-5/8

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large.

Back from our summer sojourn, here is a round-up of the week's fashion news. Enjoy!

Karl Lagerfeld has been spotted in St. Tropez sans sunnies, we kid you not! The man behind the mask is revealed.

Model Laura Bailey is the BFC's new cultural ambassador. You can follow Laura's fabulous fashion life and her work as a BFC ambassador over at her Vogue blog.

Laura in Stella sunnies (image from her Vogue blog)

Just to rub further salt in the wound of English fashion- lovers who are unlikely to see the ridiculously successful McQueen 'Savage Beauty' exhibition, Daphne Guinness' vast collection is now to go on show in New York. If you are lucky enough to be in NY then the Met will open until midnight this Saturday and Sunday to allow as many people as possible to see the McQueen exhibition before it closes. So there's really no excuse to miss out! The Met's exhibition REALLY needs to come to London.

The exhibition will feature pieces from Isabella Blow's archives which Daphne owns. Left to right- Amanda Harlech, Phillip Treacy, Daphne Guiness and Isabella Blow (Image courtesy of fuckyeahisabellablow tumblr)

Congratulations to Jaime Perlman who is jumping up from the position of Art Director of British Vogue taking over from former Creative Director, Robin Derrick. We also hear that Fran Burns is to take up a new Fashion Editor role at the title in September, amazing news! 

Jaime Perlman

Looking good Frannie!



Vanity Fair has released its annual Best Dressed list, and the criteria seems to be erring towards judging somewhat classic dressers. Unsurprisingly, most of the coverage has focused upon miss MOR herself Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and her third place entry. But we would like to draw your attention to the extreme chic of the glamorous wife of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned. Sheikha Mozah's family own Harrods, which we are sure makes her very happy in terms of fulfilling her prodigious shopping habits. She is known to have the largest collection of Christian Louboutin shoes in the Middle East, and harbours a passion for pearls. Here is a woman who makes wearing a turban aspirational.

She looks almost normal here 

But not here, with Prince Charles. (Image from Zimbio.com)

With Carla Bruni, who topped the list. Image from GraziaDaily.co.uk

The FashEd recently blogged about her involvement with Vauxhall Fashion Scout.This week the initiative announced its new 'One to Watch' picks. They all look very similar to one another, don't you think?

The work of Phoebe English (from anothermag.com)

Jessie-J wearing Shao Yen (image from his site)

One of the looks from Malene Oddeshade Bach's Middlesex BA show (image courtesy of catwalking.com)

Knitwear from Alice Lee (Image courtesy of Vogue.co.uk)

 Strictly speaking, this is last week's news but we just wanted to re-share the excitement of learning that Grace Coddington is to write a book! Many may be expecting that her memoirs  will re-ignite the Grace vs. Anna debate which was sparked by The September Issue, which they both starred in. However, we're also fascinated to hear about Grace's long and illustrious career taking her from Welsh school girl to being a fashion industry superheroine. This should be a fashion history lesson as well as insight into the mind of a very creative and somewhat shy woman.

Grace on the cover of Vogue in August 1962 (Image from Styleite.com)

A more recent shot of a heavenly Grace (from businessoffashion.com)

Finally, we are adoring these shots of wonderwomen Beyonce Knowles and Jane Fonda posing for W magazine and Harper's Bazaar US respectively. They both model key pieces from the AW11 collections and boy, do they wear them well. There are no more words...

Beyonce in Dolce and Gabbana (Image from swide.tumblr.com)

How amazing does Jane Fonda look in Stella McCartney's AW11 dress? (Image from Dailymail.co.uk)

  

With thanks to:
Fashionologie.com.
fashion.telegraph.co.uk
vogue.co.uk
theindependent.co.uk,
nymag.com/daily/fashion
vanityfair.com

WHAT A WEEK FOR BRITISH DESIGN!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Earlier in the week, we noticed two of our London based designers had been making an impact on the red carpets of international celebrity soirées, but little did we know that that was just a precursor to a brilliant week for British designers!
When Mr and Mrs Obama touched down on British soil on Tuesday, they kicked off a celebration of some of the our brightest and best fashion talent. Indeed, from the second Michelle O stepped off Air Force One in this dazzling (next season) Preen number, we knew this was the start of something big. (Have we mentioned how much we love her? Whether shaking her thang in a school hall to get kids dancing, or being the coolest First Lady in the history of time, Michelle Obama officially rocks our world.)

Michelle Obama in Preen AW11, looking sensational.

The original catwalk look Preen AW11

 Next up, SamCam continued to wave the flag for British fashion as she welcomed the Obamas to Number 10 in a beautiful - and borrowed - Peter Pilotto SS11 number (some of you will remember Paula Reed carrying out her royal fashion correspondent duty for the Beeb in this very same style). It's a fabulous dress, managing to be unusual and elegant at the same time.

Samantha Cameron in Peter Pilotto SS11

Peter Pilotto SS11

Of course, it wouldn't be a British fashion parade without the now uber-tanned K-Mid, freshly returned from her royal honeymoon and creating yet another high street mania in the 'Shola' dress from Reiss. No doubt the £175 number has already sold out, it looked great on her, with her waist still waspish post-wedding and the neutral colour set off her tan wonderfully.

K-Mid - Sorry, the Duchess of Cambridge, in the Reiss 'Shola' bandage dress. She's creating her own trend bubble. 

Back at Number 10, SamCam showed that you can accessorise Jonathan Saunders with salad tongs as she served up potato salad at a barbecue for servicemen. The dress was the perfect choice for an almost-summer sunny afternoon.

That's one garden party we would have liked to have been at. Pass the ketchup!

Jonathan Saunders SS11

Finally, it was only a matter of time before one of the First Ladies busted out some McQueen, and Michelle Obama chose the suitably dramatic setting of Oxford University to wear her Sarah Burton-designed outfit. 
















All in all, British designers did us proud this week, and it was fantastic to see their incredible designs being worn by suitably inspiring people.
Images: Daily Mail, Catwalking, Style.com, Getty

SARAH BURTON BREAKS HER SILENCE

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Sarah Burton photographed at the McQueen show for Spring/Summer 2011

So Sarah Burton (whose full statement is below) designed the Royal Weddiing dress after all the speculation surrounding her and it, and the flat denials issued by Burton herself. The Sunday Times was right all along. It leaves me wondering how did the Sunday Times get the story? Did the Palace leak news that the house of Alexander McQueen was creating the dress to the Times in order to divert interest away from a sordid story on Prince Andrew published further into the paper that same day? Or did the leak stem, as is also rumoured, from an unguarded comment made by the CEO of Alexander McQueen, Jonathan Akeroyd, to someone who knows Sunday Times editor John Witherow? I hope to get the full story some day in the future. 

(updated May 3 2011) Have been informed by a well placed source that the accidental leak to the Sunday Times about who designed the wedding dress came not from the McQueen business but from the Catherine Middleton camp. Sara Parker-Bowles? Sara is the fashion writer who married Camilla's son Tom wearing none other than Alexander McQueen.

Either way, the result is still wonderful. What a brilliant outcome for Sarah Burton and the Alexander McQueen business. All the darkness generated by Lee McQueen's suicide has been oblilterated by the purity and lightness of todays Royal nuptials leaving the brand Alexander McQueen as clean and shiny as a new pin. Though at the Grazia office today we were thinking that  no matter who Catherine Middleton had hired to create the dress, the actual gown would have been essentially the same, as it is clear this is the dress she wanted. However the newly minted Duchess of Cambridge most certainly chose exactly the right woman for the job.

Add to this that Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, an exhibition highlighting his career will be launched at the annual Costume Institute Benefit Gala, known as the Met Ball, on May 2nd, (open to the public from May 4th to July 31st) and McQueen is the hottest luxury fashion house in the world right now.

The soon-to-be Duchess of Cambridge emerges to show her Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen wedding dress for the first time

SARAH BURTON'S STATEMENT
London, 29 April 2010 - Sarah Burton, Creative Director at Alexander McQueen made the following comments regarding her role as designer of Catherine Middleton’s wedding dress:

“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.

“The last few months have been very exciting and an incredible experience for my team and I as we have worked closely with Catherine to create this dress under conditions of the strictest secrecy. Understandably, Catherine has been very keen to keep the details of her dress a secret, which is every bride’s prerogative, and we gave an undertaking to keep our role confidential until the day of the wedding.

“Catherine looked absolutely stunning today, and the team at Alexander McQueen are very proud of what we have created. The dress was just one component of a spectacular day, and I do not think it is appropriate to comment any further beyond saying that I personally am very grateful and honoured to have been given the opportunity to work on this project, and I wish TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge every good wish for the future.”

[please note: in line with Sarah Burton’s desire not to comment further, neither she nor any other company representative is giving interviews today or in the coming days]

Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueens latest collection for Autumn/Winter 2011

BIO:
Burton was raised in Manchester, and studied Print Fashion at London’s Central St Martins. It was while at St Martins that she interviewed for a years placement at McQueen, which at the time was based in a little studio in Hoxton square. She worked alongside McQueen for 14 years, which made her a natural choice for taking over the label’s creative direction following his passing. A big name designer could have been brought in from another, rival label. However, the risk was that McQueen would lose the essence of what Lee McQueen had built into his design over the years: the theatricality, intricacy, flamboyance and movement inherent in all his garments. Sarah is married to photographer David Burton.

Photos: Christopher Moore/Catwalking.com; AP