Having joined Givenchy last September, Sarah Burton was one of the most eagerly awaited designers at Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2025-26. On March 7, the British designer, former right-hand woman and living memory of Lee Alexander McQueen, delivered her first ready-to-wear fashion show for the LVMH group’s fashion house, which delighted the front row as well as the press.
From the world of Björk and David Bowie to that of Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy.
This great divide between working-class London and the aristocracy of the City of Light seems incongruous. But we must remember the modest origins of the founder of the House of McQueen, who was creative director for Givenchy for five years (1996-2001).
Sarah Burton’s debut at Givenchy, herself after thirty years at McQueen, was undoubtedly one of the most scrutinized moments of this Paris Fashion Week for fall-winter 2025-26.
Paradoxically, this show of strength in ready-to-wear also aimed to revive the couture soul of this House founded by the son of a marquis, Hubert de Givenchy, in 1952, which for the past six years seemed to be mainly in a state of introspection.
Moreover, there was a sense of a couture spirit and futuristic energy that seemed to infuse the multiple silhouettes presented, all with powerful femininity.
Celebrated “Monsieur” Givenchy
As is often the case during a creative update, the new recruit immerses himself in the archives of the House.
Sarah Burton, a prominent figure in fashion and confidante of the late Lee Alexander McQueen, was no exception, relying on patterns designed by Hubert de Givenchy dating from the year the fashion house was founded.
This inspiration is evident from the opening silhouette, a black fishnet top stamped “Givenchy 1952”.
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Read also > Givenchy confirms Sarah Burton as its artistic director
Featured Photo: © Givenchy
