Givenchy appoints Sarah Burton as new creative director

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

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

She will be introduced to workers at the atelier on Avenue Georges V this week – a legendary ritual in French fashion – and is due to present her first designs for Givenchy during Paris Fashion Week in March 2025.

“Sarah Burton is an extraordinary creative force and I have closely followed her work for many years. I am thrilled that she is joining Givenchy today,” Sidney Toledano, chairman of the board of Givenchy, said in a statement first published by WWD.

“Her unique vision and approach to fashion will be invaluable to this iconic house known for its boldness and haute couture,” he continued. “I am confident that her creative leadership will contribute to the house’s future success and international standing.”

“It is an incredible honor to join the beautiful House of Givenchy. Givenchy is a jewel,” said Burton, who will have creative responsibility for all women’s and men’s collections. “I am excited to write the next chapter in the story of this iconic House and bring my own vision, sensibility and beliefs to Givenchy.”

A meticulous fashion technician acclaimed for her dramatic tailoring and intricate yet powerful dresses, Burton was rarely seen backstage without a straight pin tucked into the sleeve of a sweater or a pair of giant scissors tucked in her back pocket.

She follows in the footsteps of the late Lee Alexander McQueen, who designed Givenchy from 1996 to 2001, when luxury mogul Bernard Arnault began to revitalize the heritage European brand with his powerful fashion chops.

Burton’s appointment marks the first new duo at the brand, following the appointment in July of Alessandro Valenti as new chief executive officer. Valenti comes to Givenchy from Louis Vuitton, where he most recently served as president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Burton and Valenti will be tasked with sparking a revival for the storied brand, which has lagged behind the faster growth of brands like Celine and Loewe, also owned by French luxury goods giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

“This is an incredibly exciting moment for Givenchy with Sarah Burton taking on the role of our Head of Creative Design,” Valenti said in a statement.

“Her incredible career and creative vision have already garnered a wide following, and I am confident that under her direction, Givenchy will continue to innovate and engage a wide audience around the world,” he said. “I look forward to the new creative energy that Sarah will bring as she works alongside our incredible team in our exceptional workshops to write a new chapter in Givenchy’s history.”

The brand, which was founded in 1952 and has been owned by LVMH since 1998, has seen a number of designer changes since founder Hubert de Givenchy retired in 1995.

Riccardo Tisci is arguably the most successful of the string of talents to lead Givenchy, bringing excitement and stability during his 12-year tenure.

John Galliano succeeded Hubert de Givenchy and soon moved on to Christian Dior, then Lee Alexander McQueen tried his hand at eclectic collections: aliens one season, rockabilly the next.

Julien MacDonald came next, returning to a style rooted in French elegance and sophistication, but to less acclaim.

Tisci was succeeded by British designer Clare Waight Keller, whose work focused on aristocratic, refined fashion, with a dash of latex and the occasional touch of toughness and rebellion, perhaps with a splash of giant, winged backpacks here and there. During her three years at the label, she was best known for dressing Meghan Markle for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.

(Meanwhile, Burton became a big name in the fashion world when he famously designed the Alexander McQueen wedding dress for Kate Middleton and Prince William’s 2011 wedding.)

Matthew M. Williams succeeded Waight Keller in taking over just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. His three-year collaboration with Givenchy ended at the end of 2023 without significant commercial success or media acclaim, highlighting a trend of shortened tenures at established European brands.

Born in Macclesfield, England and educated in Manchester, Burton studied print fashion at Central Saint Martins in London in the late 1990s and joined McQueen in 1996 after being introduced to the inspiring designer by one of his lecturers, Simon Angress.

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

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

She has long been the go-to designer for many women and men in the creative industries and contemporary art scenes, and the Alexander McQueen brand rose to popularity during the streetwear boom, with avid fans co-opting her skull scarves and chunky sneakers.

A modest woman who prefers working in her workspace to drawing attention to herself, Burton has long been regarded as a bona fide couturier in the vein of her founder, experimenting with cuts, volumes and drapes to invent new shapes and attitudes.

At McQueen, she often drew inspiration from the Victorian era, nature, and her research trips across Britain, and her designs ranged from poetic and light-hearted to more powerful and sculptural, or even punk-inspired.

Burton, who was appointed creative director of Alexander McQueen in 2010 following the suicide of Lee Alexander McQueen, will present his final collection for the brand for the spring 2024 season in October 2023, the year he parts ways with the London-based label and its parent company Kering.

The understated designer was named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2011, and in 2012 he was awarded an OBE by then-Prince Charles and received an International Award from the CFDA for his contributions to the fashion industry.

Then last December, Burton received a special accolade at the London Fashion Awards in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the fashion industry.

Her appointment caps a lengthy search for Williams’ successor, during which Givenchy has scaled back its womenswear and menswear runway shows and installed small cafe tables and benches in its couture salon on Avenue George V.

Toledano is believed to have led the negotiations with Burton, seemingly confirming that he is once again involved with a brand from the LVMH fashion group, which also owns famous brands such as Celine, Loewe and Givenchy.

LVMH announced in January that Michael Burke, who spent a decorated decade as chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, would take the helm of LVMH Fashion Group, succeeding Toledano, who was to leave LVMH’s executive committee and become an adviser to LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.

Burke has recently been spotted getting further involved in major real estate projects, in addition to other projects for the world’s largest luxury goods group.

LVMH argues that while officially nothing has changed, it is clear that there is a shift in responsibilities between two of Mr Arnault’s most trusted and experienced executives, who have long extolled the virtues of “operational flexibility” within the group.

The role will be shared with Pierre-Emmanuel Angelo Glou, who was appointed CEO of Fendi in June and is currently managing director of the LVMH Fashion Group, which oversees Fendi, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Pucci, Stella McCartney, Patou and Off-White.