Designers don’t always get to have a farewell show. Fashion house exits can be swift and brutal, final collections only realised in retrospect. Sarah Burton’s frexit from Alexander McQueen on Saturday night felt poignant for lots of reasons, but perhaps all underscored by the fact that she was able to take a final bow (to a standing ovation, and embraces from fashion luminaries) when her predecessor, Lee Alexander McQueen, had not.
In the notes left on every seat (Burton did not take reporters’ questions backstage after the show; she had a car waiting to leave with her children who watched from the front row) she dedicated the collection to the memory of McQueen, describing how his “wish was always to empower women”.
