Fashion house Alexander McQueen and Sarah Burton, its creative director since 2010, are parting ways, per a release sent to Fashion Dive. The spring-summer 2024 collection, to be shown during September’s Paris Fashion Week, will be the designer’s last for the Kering-owned house.
Burton joined McQueen as an intern in 1996 and worked alongside designer Alexander McQueen until his death in February 2010. She was appointed to the creative director position three months later and has spent the subsequent years establishing her own vision for the brand while bringing in archival elements to keep the line grounded in its foundations.
"I am so proud of everything I've done and of my incredible team at Alexander McQueen,” Burton said in the release. “They are my family, and this has been my home for the past 26 years. I want to thank [Kering’s chair and CEO] François-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."
A new creative organization “will be announced in due course,” per the release.
"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,” Pinault said in the release. “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."
In addition to McQueen, Kering manages a stable of fashion brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga. The company reported a 2% year-over-year revenue gain for H1, with revenues totaling 10.1 billion euros, or approximately $11.1 billion at current exchange rates. At the time, the French group also announced the appointment of Armelle Poulou as CFO, effective Sept. 1.
In July, Kering announced it had acquired a 30% stake in Mayhoola-owned Italian luxury house Valentino, in a deal valued at 1.7 billion euros.
