Sarah Burton is the new creative director of Givenchy

Sarah Burton has been appointed the new creative director of Givenchy, which had been without a designer since early 2024. Burton, who spent her entire career at Alexander McQueen, will be the eighth designer at Givenchy and the second female couturier in the brand's history. Her arrival follows the recent appointment of Alessandro Valenti as CEO, brought in to revive the brand after its recent stagnation. This week, Burton will be introduced to the ateliers of Avenue George V in Paris, a long-established tradition in French couture, while her first collection for Givenchy is expected at Paris Fashion Week in March 2025, during which Haider Ackermann will also present his first collection for Tom Ford. Burton expressed her honor in joining Givenchy, describing it as a "jewel." Known for her meticulous craftsmanship, her dramatic tailoring, and her intricate designs, Burton's appointment has been widely welcomed by the international fashion community, with both the designer in need of breaking free from McQueen's shadow and the brand ready for a shift in identity and the reintroduction of Haute Couture, which disappeared along with Clare Waight-Keller.

Sarah Burton's career has so far been deeply intertwined with the history of Alexander McQueen, where she began as an intern before rising to head womenswear and eventually creative director after Lee McQueen's tragic death in 2010. During her tenure, she maintained the brand's overall aesthetic while "disciplining" it, making its shows more traditional and introducing more commercial products that kept the house's sales afloat. Her work has been celebrated worldwide, particularly for designing the wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton in 2011. However, the comparison to her predecessor, who is still so loved and remembered, did not help Burton's visibility. Known as one of the most efficient professionals in the industry, her personal career, as many said, needed a new expressive channel through which she could operate without the necessary comparison to a renowned predecessor. Givenchy's choice of Burton is also symbolically significant, considering that Lee McQueen had a tenure at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. Now, although Givenchy has struggled to keep pace with the growth of some of its competitors, Burton's appointment is seen as an opportunity to reignite interest in the brand.

The task is challenging. Givenchy's recent history has been marked by a series of designers who have left their mark, from Riccardo Tisci, who stabilized the brand during his 12-year tenure, to Clare Waight Keller, whose creations garnered global attention after dressing Meghan Markle for her wedding but failed to achieve the expected sales goals, despite enthusiastic critical reviews. More recently, Matthew M. Williams led the brand through a difficult period during the pandemic, but his streetwear reinterpretation of the brand was not widely convincing. Burton's appointment concludes a lengthy search for Williams' successor, during which Givenchy scaled back its shows and streamlined its strategy. Her arrival comes at a time when LVMH is refining the leadership of its brands, with executives like Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou and Michael Burke taking on new roles within the company.