Sarah Burton - Designer, Creative Director of Givenchy

[Drusilla_]

phew, finally an adult back in the house!!

Good to see the thread title updated now.

 

[callmejaeden]

Thought I misread the thread title and was going crazy, but I'm not! I'm so excited

 

[XPreme]

It will be exciting. There isn't much that can go wrong here at the moment. This is exactly the right line-up to get back on track.

 

[LadyJunon]

The official announcement:

 

[vogue28]

I’m thrilled. Finally some stability going to a fashion house with so much potential. Massively here for Sarah Burton’s appointment. No doubt in my mind Burton will propel Givenchy to new heights!

 

[tourbillions]

finally! im gonna save up for her menswear.

 

[90sfan]

Ugh how utterly and completely boring choice..
wake me up in 4 years when she leaves to do COS.

 

[LadyJunon]

Full Article:

EXCLUSIVE: Givenchy Selects Sarah Burton as Next Designer
The acclaimed Burton, who spent her entire career at Alexander McQueen, becomes the French maison's eighth designer since it was founded in 1952.

By Miles Socha
September 9, 2024, 1:01am

PARIS — Givenchy has selected Sarah Burton as its new creative director, WWD can confirm exclusively.

The British designer, who spent her entire fashion career at Alexander McQueen in London, becomes Givenchy’s eighth designer — and its second female couturier.

She will be introduced this week to the workers in the ateliers at Avenue George V — a storied ritual in French fashion — and she is expected to present her first designs for Givenchy during Paris Fashion Week in March 2025.

“Sarah Burton is an exceptional creative talent whose work I have passionately followed for many years. I am very glad that she is joining Givenchy today,” Sidney Toledano, chairman of the Givenchy board, said in a statement shared first with WWD.

“Her unique vision and approach to fashion will be invaluable to this iconic maison, known for its audacity and haute couture,” he continued. “I am convinced that her creative leadership will contribute to the future success and international standing of the maison.”

“It is a great honor to be joining the beautiful house of Givenchy, it is a jewel,” said Burton, whose creative responsibilities cover all women’s and men’s collections. “I am so excited to be able to write the next chapter in the story of this iconic house and to bring to Givenchy my own vision, sensibility and beliefs.”

A fastidious fashion technician prized for dramatic tailoring and intricate, yet empowering dresses, Burton was rarely seen backstage without straight pins stored in her sweater sleeves, and a big pair of scissors shoved in a back pocket.

She follows in the footsteps of the late Lee Alexander McQueen, who designed Givenchy from 1996 to 2001, when luxury kingpin Bernard Arnault began revving up European heritage brands with powerful fashion talents.

Burton’s appointment completes a new duo at the brand following the July appointment of Alessandro Valenti as the new chief executive officer. He joined Givenchy from Louis Vuitton, where he was most recently president of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Burton and Valenti will be charged with igniting a renaissance at the storied house, which has lagged the rapid growth charted by the likes of Celine and Loewe, which are also controlled by French luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

“The arrival of Sarah Burton as head of our creative design is a very exciting moment for Givenchy,” Valenti said in the statement.

“Her remarkable career path and creative vision have already won her a vast fan base, and we are certain that under her direction, Givenchy will continue to innovate and captivate an extensive audience across the world stage,” he said. “I eagerly anticipate the new creative energy Sarah will bring as she works alongside our outstanding teams in our exceptional workshops, and we embark on this new chapter in the history of Givenchy.”

Founded in 1952 and owned by LVMH since 1998, the house has seen a number of designers come and go since founder Hubert de Givenchy retired in 1995.

Riccardo Tisci was arguably the most successful of a string of talents who have led Givenchy, bringing heat and stability over a 12-year tenure.

John Galliano was Hubert de Givenchy’s immediate successor and moved on quickly to Christian Dior. Lee Alexander McQueen tried his hand next with eclectic collections — space aliens one season, rockabilly the next.

Julien Macdonald came next, and went back to a style rooted in French elegance and sophistication, but did not win much acclaim.

Tisci was succeeded by British designer Clare Waight Keller, who largely plied a tasteful, aristocratic brand of fashion occasionally spiked with toughness or subversion — a touch of latex here, a giant wing-like backpack there. Her biggest claim to fame during her three-year stint was dressing Meghan Markle for her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.

(Burton, meanwhile, famously designed the Alexander McQueen wedding gown for Kate Middleton’s marriage to Prince William in 2011, catapulting her profile in the fashion firmament.)

Matthew M. Williams followed Waight Keller, arriving just as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world. He wound up his three-year collaboration with Givenchy at the end of 2023 after failing to ignite big commercial success or media acclaim, underscoring a trend for shorter tenures at Europe’s heritage brands.

Born in Macclesfield, England, and educated in Manchester, Burton studied print fashion at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London in the late 1990s, and landed at McQueen after one of her instructors, Simon Ungless, introduced her to the incendiary designer in 1996.

He offered her an internship at his design house. After graduating in 1997, Burton became McQueen’s design assistant and was promoted in 2000 to head of womenswear.

She presented her first collection without the late designer during the spring 2011 season and was applauded for adding a feminine hand to McQueen’s hard-edged aesthetic.

She has long been a go-to designer for many women and men in the creative industries and contemporary art scene, and the Alexander McQueen brand gained heat during the streetwear boom as hype beasts sought out its skull-print scarves and chunky-soled sneakers.

A reserved woman who prefers to toil in the workrooms rather than seek attention for herself, Burton has long been viewed as a bona fide couturier in the vein of the founder, experimenting with cuts, volumes and draping to invent new shapes and attitudes.

At McQueen, she often found inspiration in the Victorian era, in nature, and from research trips across the United Kingdom. Her designs ranged from poetic and frothy in register to stronger, sculptural designs, or ones with punk tinges.

Model on the runway at Alexander McQueen Ready To Wear Spring 2024 held at Careau du Temple on September 30, 2023 in Paris, France.
A look from Alexander McQueen Ready To Wear Spring 2024 collection Giovanni Giannoni for WWD
Burton, who was named creative director of Alexander McQueen in 2010 following Lee Alexander McQueen’s suicide, showed her final collection for the house, which was for the spring 2024 season, in October 2023, when she parted ways with the London-based house and its parent Kering.

The low-key designer was named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2011, was honored in 2012 by the-then Prince Charles with an OBE, or The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire honor, for her services in the fashion industry, and received the International Award from the CFDA.

And last December, Burton was awarded the Special Recognition Award at The Fashion Awards in London, honoring her outstanding contribution to the fashion industry.

Her appointment caps off a protracted search for Williams’ successor, during which time Givenchy scaled back its runway shows for womenswear and menswear, setting out small café tables or benches at its couture salons on the Avenue George V.

It is understood Toledano spearheaded negotiations with Burton, which seems to confirm he is once again implicated in LVMH Fashion Group brands, which is headlined by such marquee names as Celine, Loewe and Givenchy.

In January, LVMH said Michael Burke, whose long career at the group included a stellar 10 years as chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, would take the helm of LVMH Fashion Group and succeed Toledano, who was to leave the LVMH executive committee and become an adviser to LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.

It is understood Burke has recently been more implicated in large-scale real estate projects, in addition to other projects at the world’s biggest luxury group.

While nothing has changed officially, LVMH insists, it’s clear responsibilities are shifting between two of Arnault’s most trusted and seasoned executives, who have long extolled the virtues of “management flexibility” within the group.

Duties are also shared with Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, who in June was named CEO of Fendi, in addition to being managing director of LVMH Fashion Group overseeing Fendi, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Pucci, Stella McCartney, Patou and Off-White.

WWD

 

[Deleted member 1957]

This is a perfect match, her aesthetic perfectly aligns with the brands.

 

[Nomar]

There is hope after all!

 

[avonlea002]

It's going to be well made and perfectly tailored but I don't expect anything exciting in terms of image.

 

[Lola701]

Perfect!
Tbh, what her McQueen has become could have been labeled Givenchy. Even her bags were good so, it’s a fabulous news.
Paris is going to be on fire in 2025!

It’s good that she is starting with RTW. I guess that Couture will comeback eventually.

I wonder how those new appointment and that competition is going to influence creatively some houses.

 

[caioherrero]

Perfect!
Tbh, what her McQueen has become could have been labeled Givenchy. Even her bags were good so, it’s a fabulous news.
Paris is going to be on fire in 2025!

It’s good that she is starting with RTW. I guess that Couture will comeback eventually.

I wonder how those new appointment and that competition is going to influence creatively some houses.

Thats my question. Where is the Givenchy couture?

 

[Salvatore]

Not the biggest Sarah Burton fan, but I do think she will do a good job at Givenchy. I agree that Paris 2025 will be on FIRE with new creative directors at Tom Ford, Givenchy, Lanvin, and hopefully soon we will get a Chanel announcement.

 

[Creative]

Not excited at all. I don’t think she is fashion a designer but a good patronist/assistant with perfect technique.

Her only success has been the most terrible sneakers I’ve ever seen, so can’t say I’m even slightly interested by what she can produce for the brand.

In terms of creative direction I think she’s not good either.

Givenchy is like the epitome chic French house. Sarah has 0 chic in her. She is so UK.

We will see.

 

[tricotineacetat]

Not excited at all. I don’t think she is fashion a designer but a good patronist/assistant with perfect technique.

Her only success has been the most terrible sneakers I’ve ever seen, so can’t say I’m even slightly interested by what she can produce for the brand.

In terms of creative direction I think she’s not good either.

Givenchy is like the epitome chic French house. Sarah has 0 chic in her. She is so UK.

We will see.

In which designers are you putting hopes for the future if both Sarah Burton at Givenchy as well as Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford seem unfitting to you? No offense there, but a lot of your judgement on designers boils down to the argument they would be past their prime, and yet I don‘t really hear who you think can deliver better. This would probably rule out any designer older than J.W. Anderson who has had a label of his or her own or is currently without a job.

The idea that somebody fresh from uni or unknown out of the studio of a famous designer merits their qualification entirely on age and/or newness, as if the eyes of a person who’s been in the industry for decades (possibly in the public eye) dulls their ability to produce products that connect with a customer.

 

[LadyJunon]

I'm really happy with this appointement, but I have one concern. Burton is a really good designer, but her worldbuilding was very weak. While the collections are really strong, but her McQueen didn't really say much other than "pretty" and "craftsmanship". Aside from its historical name and its fading streetwear cred, Givenchy has a very weak brand identity. As she puts her first collections together, she'll need to ask herself these questions:
- What does a Givenchy show look like?
- What about a Givenchy campaign?
- What about casting, styling or art direction?
- What about Givenchy on the red carpet?
- What about the website or retail locations?

 

[Creative]

In which designers are you putting hopes for the future if both Sarah Burton at Givenchy as well as Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford seem unfitting to you? No offense there, but a lot of your judgement on designers boils down to the argument they would be past their prime, and yet I don‘t really hear who you think can deliver better. This would probably rule out any designer older than J.W. Anderson who has had a label of his or her own or is currently without a job.

The idea that somebody fresh from uni or unknown out of the studio of a famous designer merits their qualification entirely on age and/or newness, as if the eyes of a person who’s been in the industry for decades (possibly in the public eye) dulls their ability to produce products that connect with a customer.

I just don’t care if they are new, old or whatever. I think Sarah Burton is at best a prom dress designer with an amazing techinque. She’s not a fashion designer and I don’t see a specific POV in her.

Haider Ackerman is just a one trick pony that couldn’t even handle the success of his brand for 5 years. His vision won’t be able to create a whole universe for a brand like Tom Ford.

I simply don’t think there are any talented designers at the moment. I see talent in Phoebe Philo but what she’s been doing with her brand is a total mess.

 

[Creative]

Tell me one campaign by Sarah Burton that you remember… I just can’t. She is not a creative director. She’s a craftswoman. All her shows look the same.

I don’t doubt she can’t create beautiful pieces that are good by themselves, but she’s not a fashion designer. Givenchy needs fashion. I think it will flop once again and I just don’t get why people at LVMH went for this. But oh well, not that their 7463638 choices for Givenchy have been a success (Riccardo aside).

 

[tourbillions]

I'm really happy with this appointement, but I have one concern. Burton is a really good designer, but her worldbuilding was very weak. While the collections are really strong, but her McQueen didn't really say much other than "pretty" and "craftsmanship". Aside from its historical name and its fading streetwear cred, Givenchy has a very weak brand identity. As she puts her first collections together, she'll need to ask herself these questions:
- What does a Givenchy show look like?
- What about a Givenchy campaign?
- What about casting, styling or art direction?
- What about Givenchy on the red carpet?
- What about the website or retail locations?

i think sarah;s later years was definitely not about worldbuilding, it was all about the clothes and silhouette. It was a slow progression of her signature looks and every now and then she would add in some "new" silhouettes that would fit the "theme". her mcqueen was about the white victorian dress and a lot of suiting with cutouts. There might have not been a mcqueen world but her clothes was easily identifiable and had their own life.

I wonder if the suits will allow her to go for her later years in mcqueen where it was all about commercial piees with and edge or they will want her to build worlds every season like she did in her early years where each season was a completely new fantasy.

What im really looking forward to is how she would approach couture. In paper it should be a world of dreams but i dont want to expect too much...