01FOR YEARS THE HANDS BEHIND ALEXANDER MCQUEEN'S WILDEST, BEST-
KNOWN DRESSES WERE NOT MCQUEEN'S. THEY BELONGED TO SARAH
BURTON, WHO RAN HIS ATELIER IN NEAR-ANONYMITY FOR OVER A DECADE
BEFORE THE WIDER WORLD EVER LEARNED HER NAME.
02SHE JOINED HIM IN 1997 AND STAYED 26 YEARS. WHEN MCQUEEN DIED IN
2010, BURTON TOOK THE HOUSE HE LEFT BEHIND AND RAN IT AS CREATIVE
DIRECTOR UNTIL 2023, KEEPING HIS SAVAGE ROMANCE ALIVE WITHOUT
EVER SIMPLY IMITATING THE MAN HERSELF.
03THEN CAME THE SECRET COMMISSION. IN 2011 BURTON DESIGNED
CATHERINE MIDDLETON'S ROYAL WEDDING DRESS, WATCHED AROUND THE
WORLD, UNDER SUCH SECRECY THAT ATELIER STAFF USED COVER STORIES
AND WASHED THEIR HANDS THROUGH THE DAY TO KEEP THE LACE CLEAN.
04BURTON DID NOT PLAY THE CELEBRITY DESIGNER. SHE LET THE CLOTHES
AND THE CRAFT SPEAK: THE HAND-CUT LACE, THE CORSETRY, THE
ENGINEERED TAILORING SHE LEARNED CUTTING PATTERNS AT MCQUEEN'S
SIDE. RECOGNITION CAME LATE, AND SHE DID NOT SEEM TO CHASE IT.
05NOW THE HOUSE IS HERS. BURTON BECAME CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF
GIVENCHY IN 2024, THE FRENCH HOUSE HUBERT DE GIVENCHY BUILT ON
CLEAN, ARCHITECTURAL ELEGANCE. THE BRIEF: FIND ITS SAVAGE ROMANCE
AGAIN, WITHOUT REACHING BACK FOR MCQUEEN'S.
06IT IS A QUIET KIND OF VINDICATION. THE WOMAN WHO SPENT DECADES
MAKING OTHER PEOPLE'S VISIONS REAL NOW SIGNS THE WORK HERSELF.
THE HIDDEN HAND, FINALLY THE NAME ABOVE THE DOOR. ABOUT TIME,
AND THOROUGHLY WELL EARNED.