11 September 2023 |
After 13 years at the helm of Alexander McQueen, today it was announced that Sarah Burton is leaving the brand.
In a statement issued by Kering, Burton writes: “I am so proud of everything l’ve done and of my incredible team at Alexander McQueen. They are my family, and this has been my home for the past 26 years. I want to thank Francois-Henri Pinault for believing in me and offering me this amazing opportunity. Above all I want to thank Lee Alexander McQueen. He taught me so much and I am eternally grateful to him. I am looking forward to the future and my next chapter and will always carry this treasured time with me.”
Burton has been at Alexander McQueen for 26 years, joining the house in 1997, before becoming head of womenswear in 2000. She worked alongside Lee Alexander McQueen for 14 years and completed the designer’s final collection a month following the his tragic suicide in 2010.
Building on the legacy of the house, her collections were both magnificent and serene, each deeply rooted in British craft of the highest order. Powerfully romantic, her distinct design lexicon has steered the house with a graceful confidence that has propelled Alexander McQueen to terrific, new heights.
“I am immensely grateful to Sarah, and I want to personally thank her for her work over the past two decades, first alongside Lee Alexander McQueen, where her role was instrumental to his success, and then as the creative director since 2010,” writes François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering. “Through her own experience, sensitivity and talent, Sarah continued to evolve the artistic expression of this iconic House She kept and continued Lee’s heritage, attention to detail and unique vision, while adding her own personal, highly creative touch.”
Burton’s final collection will be staged during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday, September 30. Alexander McQueen’s next creative director is yet to be unveiled.
Photography by David Burton.
