Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton to leave fashion house

Sarah Burton, creative director at fashion house Alexander McQueen, is set to leave the Kering label later this month, the latest in a string of management moves at the luxury conglomerate.

Burton will depart after presenting her final spring-summer 2024 collection on September 30 during Paris Fashion Week, Kering said in a statement Monday. The French company didn’t announce a successor to Burton nor give a reason for her departure.

Burton was named creative director of the fashion brand in 2010, a few months after the founder, Lee Alexander McQueen died, at the age of 40. She had previously spent 14 years working by his side.

Burton drove Alexander McQueen to “new heights” Kering said. The brand captured worldwide recognition in 2011 when Royal bride Kate Middleton decided to wear Burton’s floor-length ivory dress with lace detailing as her wedding gown when she married Prince William.

Otherwise, the label has been known for its chic and asymmetrically tailored suits. Recently, Beyonce wore an Alexander McQueen bodysuit featuring a sequin-embroidered horse for her Renaissance tour, while actress Elle Fanning donned a pale pink tulle dress from the label at this year’s Cannes film festival.

While Kering doesn’t break out financial performance for the brand, HSBC estimates it represented 4 per cent of the group’s total revenue in 2022, according to a June report. That would be about €814 million. Kering’s biggest brand, Gucci, recorded around €10.5 billion in sales last year.

Kering has reshuffled its management and designer ranks in the past year. Notably, the group named a new designer at Gucci, Sabato de Sarno, who will unveil his debut collection in Milan later this month.

Vogue Business first reported that Burton was due to leave the brand.