Kate’s Royal Bride’s Dress : Alexander McQueen’s Fashion House coups to Number One
LONDON—The bride’s dress Friday was a coup for fashion house Alexander McQueen— whose future was uncertain just a year ago in the wake of its British founder’s suicide—and an inspiration for retailers who said the gown’s polished style would set trends for wedding and evening wear.
The dress worn by royal bride Kate Middleton, now known as the duchess of Cambridge, was designed by Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen, which is owned by France’s PPR SA. The news that Ms. Burton had won the coveted assignment was unveiled after months of secrecy when Ms. Middleton stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey at 10:58 a.m. local time on Friday.
Catherine Middleton’s dress was designed by Sarah Burton of the Alexander McQueen fashion house.
Fashion industry executives said the royal commission all but secured the long-term survival of the brand, which was unclear after Mr. McQueen’s death in February 2010, and even after the appointment of Ms. Burton, his head womenswear designer.
François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of PPR said in a statement, “I think that the dress is absolutely stunning and we are very proud of Sarah and the team at Alexander McQueen for what they have achieved.” Neither company made executives available for interviews.
Fashion historians said the dress, which had an ivory satin bodice narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, clearly evoked Mr. McQueen who frequently drew on the Victorian tradition of corsetry. Some also said the fitted top and long lace sleeves were reminiscent of the dress Hollywood actress Grace Kelly wore for her 1956 wedding to the prince of Monaco.
The label’s moment in the limelight Friday came only days before the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opens an exhibit called “Savage Beauty” dedicated to the work of the late Mr. McQueen on Wednesday.
“For the bride to be wearing McQueen at this moment in time—obviously with the passing of the designer last year, but also with the Savage Beauty show opening in New York—will set the McQueen name in much greater international terms in late 20th and early 21st century fashion history,” said Alistair O’Neill, senior research fellow in fashion at London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
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