MADAME FIGARO FRANCE March 19, 2019 Sarah Burton and Simon Ungless discuss their relationship and Burton’s career as Creative Director at Alexander McQueen.
SARAH BURTON SEEN BY SIMON UNGLESS "A SWEET SOUL" They met 25 years ago at Central Saint Martins College, where Simon Ungless was Sarah's teacher. In 1996, he presented it to Lee Alexander McQueen, with whom he collaborated with for his first collections. A decisive meeting, since Sarah Burton worked fourteen years with the creator before taking back the reins of his house. Today, Executive Director of the School of Fashion at the San Francisco Academy of Art University, Simon Ungless remembers. A SENSITIVE FASHION "Sarah is passionate about technique, quality, and craftsmanship. That's what I noticed when she was my student. She was already seeking, with an unusual requirement, to design a garment from A to Z. She is the most loyal person I know. Sarah is a sweet soul. She is totally involved in fashion and at the same time, very singular." FAITHFUL AND INNOVATIVE "Since she has been McQueen's Artistic Director, Sarah has accomplished a remarkable job. She has lost none of Lee Alexander's original vision, but has brought a form of sweetness and seduction that draws a wider audience. She feeds on archives to better project her own vision, without ever being repetitive, let alone in imitation. She builds her own grammar." WHAT DISTINGUISHES SARAH FROM LEE ALEXANDER? "Lee like to work around the concept of rupture, only the ideas and the creative process. Sarah also cares about business, sales, and production, which gives the house a larger scale. Lee was a showman. Sarah never tried to compete on her own ground. She is withdrawn and focuses on the clothing. One and the other are two wonderful storytellers. They deliver the same message, but each with his voice.”