The end of one chapter marks the beginning of another. After more than two decades at Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton steps into Givenchy, not with the intent to disrupt, but to refine. Fashion often rewards reinvention, yet Burton has built her career on something else entirely: an unwavering commitment to craft. Her focus is not on rewriting the house’s identity but on distilling its essence, sharpening its legacy of precision, elegance, and craftsmanship for today.
On December 1, 2024, Givenchy announced that Matthew M. Williams would be stepping down as creative director, setting the stage for Burton’s arrival. It’s a move that signals more than just a change in leadership, it marks an industry shift. Burton, who once took the reins from Lee Alexander McQueen himself, now joins an exclusive circle of women leading at LVMH, alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior, Camille Miceli at Pucci, and Silvia Venturini Fendi at Fendi. (Stella McCartney was among them until her brand parted ways with the group in January 2025.) She is also only the second woman to hold the top design role at Givenchy, following Clare Waight Keller (2017–2020).
For her Fall/Winter 2025 debut at Paris Fashion Week, Burton went back to what she sees as the essence of Givenchy: couture. “To me, that’s atelier. It’s the heart of Givenchy,” she said. That belief in the craft shaped her approach, and it’s why she was drawn to the house’s origins. “To go forward, you have to go back to the beginning.”
She turned to the archives, poring over original calico toiles from Hubert de Givenchy’s 1952 debut collection. Givenchy’s legacy has long been defined by its refined elegance, perhaps best exemplified by the iconic black dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), a testament to the house’s timeless appeal. The result was a recalibration, one that placed silhouette and construction front and center. “Givenchy is about silhouette, and it is as important how it looks from behind as it looks from the front,” she noted. There was a cinematic sharpness to it, too. “It was Hitchcock in a way, this silhouette. It’s all about form and construction.”
The show began with a stripped-back statement: a black fishnet bodysuit, reducing fashion to its purest elements. Then came the tailoring: precisely cut jackets with sculpted shoulders, coats with an engineered volume, crisp white shirts that spoke directly to the maison’s codes. But Burton wasn’t interested in mere homage. There were lace dresses left raw at the hem, structured obi belts that played with proportion, and unexpected moments of asymmetry that challenged the expected.
Burton understands the weight of this moment. In a time when fashion often leans into spectacle, Givenchy remains a house defined by precision and poise. Burton embraces that, choosing discipline over distraction. The clothes spoke for themselves—no gimmicks, no over-explained concepts, just a commitment to the kind of design that lingers.
“There’s a pressure to the first show, but you have that everywhere you go,” she shared in an interview. “I know what I love doing, what I’m good at doing. I learned that with Lee, and then carried on. You have to tell your own stories.”
During her 26-year tenure at Alexander McQueen, including 13 years as creative director following Lee Alexander McQueen’s passing in 2010, was marked by an unwavering dedication to craftsmanship. Under her direction, the brand’s sales climbed to an estimated €830 million in 2022, up from €758 million in 2021 and €220 million in 2014, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Édouard Aubin. Kering, McQueen’s parent company, does not publicly disclose individual sales figures, but the trajectory speaks for itself.
Her final collection for the house, Spring/Summer 2024, titled Anatomy II, was an emotional farewell that encapsulated her vision. Inspired by female anatomy, Queen Elizabeth I, and the works of Magdalena Abakanowicz, the collection was a tribute to strength, artistry, and the enduring legacy of Lee Alexander McQueen. Burton dedicated the show to McQueen’s unwavering mission to empower women and to the passion and talent of her team, a fitting conclusion to her tenure at the house.
Burton’s appointment at Givenchy reignites a broader conversation: fashion has always spoken to women, but its stories have not always been told by them. This shift is more than symbolic; it reflects a deeper evolution within the industry. With her at the helm, that dynamic is shifting. Burton’s work, rooted in both structure and emotion, is shaping a new chapter—one where the female gaze isn’t an afterthought, but the foundation.
That sentiment carried through to Burton’s Givenchy debut, which wasn’t about making a statement for the sake of it. No forced reinvention, no grand proclamations. Just a designer fluent in the language of construction, speaking in a way that feels both fresh and familiar. A statement, not a spectacle.
Welcome to Sarah Burton’s Givenchy.
