The wedding dress she designed for the Duchess of Cambridge

The wedding dress she designed for the Duchess of Cambridge – or the Countess of Strathearn as she is known in Scotland – was a triumph, warmly received by the fashion world. Whether the design house would even have been approached had Lee McQueen still been alive is debatable, since it was the Burton element, more so than the McQueen aesthetic, which is said to have helped to land the commission.
Karl Lagerfeld described the dress as “a bridal gown of very refined detail”, adding: “Alexander McQueen dresses are always very elegant. Women in traditional dresses dance and spin around and around.It’s very pretty and relatively classic with a little touch of the 1950s that recalls Marilyn Monroe or Queen Elizabeth II’s dress. The lace is pretty, especially the embroidered veil, and the tiara not too high. It’s ravishing and the length of the train is perfect.”
Before it was even confirmed that Burton had landed the commission of a lifetime, while the rumours were still circulating, couture maven Daphne Guinness spoke out on her hope that Burton would get the job. “She is such a feminine designer and I would expect the dress to be nothing short of astounding,” she said. “She will not disappoint Miss Middleton, or the world watching. In fact, I would wager that it will be one of the most interesting and beautiful dresses ever made. Burton’s creations, after all, are the apogee of fantasy and beauty.”
The royal wedding dress, however, has merely been the jewel in the tiara of an incredible year for Burton. The collections she has shown have won strong reviews from fashion critics. Her first two collections at the helm of the label were praised for balancing the theatricality and craftsmanship of the brand with a new delicacy and femininity.
Our website said of the spring/summer 2012 collection that “the details of the clothes were so obsessively conceived and realised, they could have easily sunk the clothes. That did, after all, happen with Lee McQueen now and again. But Burton has already won kudos for her woman’s touch, which has literally lifted the collection.”
Much is made of Burton’s “normality”. Raised in Manchester, she moved to London to study at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design before joining McQueen as an intern in 1996. She has none of the theatricality seen in many of her peers. She is not a flamboyant dresser and her personal style is simple and relaxed. She is, by all accounts, a quiet, hard-working and unshowy woman. “Her humbleness is what endears so many to her,” says McGowne. “The industry is plagued with monster egos and yet here is someone so incredibly talented – the most talented of all, in my opinion – who goes about her work with such grace and quiet professionalism.”

タグ：Wedding Dress