Sarah Burton has been appointed Creative Director at Givenchy

It’s a big win for the fashion industry: Sarah Burton is Givenchy’s new creative director, effective immediately. She will be responsible for the creative direction of all of Maison’s women's and men's collections and will show her first womenswear collection in March 2025 during Paris Fashion Week.

In the official statement, released on Monday morning, Burton said: “It is a great honour to be joining the beautiful house of Givenchy, it is a jewel. 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”.

Sarah Burton has spent all her professional life working for the Alexander McQueen fashion house. She joined the team of the cult British designer, as an intern just after graduating from Central Saint Martins, and quickly became the head of his womenswear. Then after Lee’s untimely passing in 2010, she took on the role of the creative director of his studio, keeping an eye on his poetic heritage but also adding a touch of her sensibility to the collections, which became a commercial success bringing its owner Kering group to the new heights. When last year, it was announced that she would be leaving McQueen after 26 years, everybody was surprised. It was the end of an era.

Somehow, in the fashion world, when everything is constantly changing, it didn’t feel right. Yet, after her heartfelt goodbye last September, and the announcement of her successor Seán McGirr (who is currently struggling to fit in Burton’s shoes, but it’s another story), it was not clear where Sarah could be heading. Some insiders were even highlighting that at 49, and with just one house on her resume, it would be hard for her to find a similar position in the industry. Whereas the optimists (read fashion dreamers) were theorising that she would be the perfect match for Givenchy, where Lee McQueen was hired to replace John Galliano from 1996 to 2001, creating dramatic over-the-top fashion moments, before his abrupt departure after the feud with LVMH’s owner Bernard Arnault. So there is this unique heritage link, but it’s not all. Burton is strong in both womenswear and menswear. And she masters couture techniques, the skill the House’s previous creative director Matthew Williams was missing and was severely criticised for.

When the news dropped this Monday, the fashion world was relieved. I don’t know anyone who didn’t smile when they saw the announcement on their mobile screens on a rainy morning of another busy week. Happy endings still exist, and Sarah, as the eighth designer since the Miason’s founding in 1952 and its second female couturier, will write a beautiful chapter in its history. Somehow this news gives hope that the fashion industry is not only about business and numbers anymore, but also about fashion magic, as in good old Lee McQueen’s times.

Courtesy: Givenchy

Text: Lidia Ageeva