Born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Burton studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and interned at Alexander McQueen’s studio during her third year. After graduating in 1997, she joined the company full-time as McQueen’s personal assistant. She eventually became Head of Womenswear in 2000, creating dresses for Gwyneth Paltrow, Michelle Obama, and Cate Blanchett. After Alexander McQueen’s tragic suicide in 2010 Burton took over as Creative Director for the company, which is owned by Gucci.
In case you somehow managed to avoid the barrage of press surrounding the Royal Wedding, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen was the designer of what has since become the most famous wedding dress of the decade (and the one that brought back sleeves, which I am thankful for).
The year she designed the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, Sarah Burton (who is married to fashion photographer David Burton), also won Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards.
Of the infamous Royal Dress, Sarah Burton recently told T: The New York Times Style Magazine, that while she is secretive in nature and doesn’t typically reveal details of a client’s dress, she will say she thoroughly enjoyed working with Kate and getting to know her over the years.
“I loved making the dress, I loved adapting my ideas to suit the person and the occasion, and we put our hearts into it,” she said. “I respect the intimate nature of that lovely project and I respect the friendships that were forged during it… an instinctive, intelligent, imaginative young woman’s wish for a beautiful wedding dress — or any kind of dress — is the most natural thing in the world. I was honored to pick up the challenge and always will be.”
Price: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen wedding dresses are made to order, which means their prices typically run in the tens of thousands of dollars. You can expect a custom Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen wedding dress to start around $50,000 and go up from there.
While that might be out of most of our price ranges, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen does have a Ready-to-Wear collection that, while still pricey and not really intended for bridal, is still gorgeous and could totally work. And then of course you can humbly say that you share the same wedding dress designer as the Duchess of Cambridge (for a fraction of the cost).
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