The illustrations were commissioned for the magazine’s feature on the 10 Most Intriguing People In Fashion, and includes everyone from androgynous supermodel Andre Pejic to embattled American Apparel boss Dov Charney, with a few of the usual suspects (Anna Wintour, Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen) included for good measure.

Full sized versions of each illustration are available at Meets Obsession. All illustrations by Yiying Lu.

via My Modern Met

Sarah Burton in a dress of her own design at the Met Costume Institute Gala

According to WWD, a well deserved vacation.

The royal wedding dressmaker is in New York, and appeared at the Met Gala honoring Alexander McQueen in a simple, flattering dress of her own design (ahem, Stella), but stuck around for a meet and greet at Saks Fifth Avenue. Though customers were advised not to ask about the royal wedding, it’s hard to overstate how much of an effect it had on raising her public profile among a non-fashion industry audience, so naturally someone asked.

Burton reportedly said Kate Middleton and her sister Pippa were “really nice and down to earth,” and that Duchess Catherine “couldn’t have been more lovely” as they collaborated on the dress. Not that we’d imagine Burton spilling the beans if Kate Middleton were a bridezilla.

Prior to the royal wedding, Burton was known as the designer of the (beautiful and completely appropriate, in our opinion) red dress that landed Michelle Obama in the center of controversy with American designers; and as those of you who do follow fashion know, before that it was as the designer who everyone was counting on to keep the house of McQueen thriving in a way that would retain the design genius and skill of its late founder, while moving forward in a direction that’s more tribute than replica.

Needless to say, in spite of the increased responsibility Burton seems to be doing exactly that amazingly well. Enjoy your vacation, Ms. Burton.

It’s official! Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen designed the wedding gown fit for a princess.

Well, a duchess for now, as Kate Middleton and Prince William won’t take the titles of prince and princess until Prince Charles becomes king. The official Royal Wedding website puts to rest months of speculation on who would design one of the most visible wedding dresses of the year. Burton was also responsible for the dress of Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister and maid of honor. The v-neck is something of a signature for the future princess, but we also saw similarities to the wedding dress of Princess Grace of Monaco. In other words, bravo! to Sarah Burton for a gown that’s unique to the bride, but timeless enough to have its place in history, and pay tribute to Alexander McQueen’s legacy in a way the late designer likely never imagined.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (that’s Prince William and Kate Middleton if you missed it), Sarah Burton and one of the late, great kings of fashion.

From the website:

The Wedding Dress

Miss Catherine Middletonâ€s Wedding Dress has been designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.

Miss Middleton chose British brand Alexander McQueen for the beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing.  Miss Middleton wished for her dress to combine tradition and modernity with the artistic vision that characterises Alexander McQueenâ€s work.  Miss Middleton worked closely with Sarah Burton in formulating the design of her dress.

The dress epitomises timeless British craftsmanship by drawing together talented and skilled workmanship from across the United Kingdom.  The dress design pays tribute to the Arts and Crafts tradition, which advocated truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often Romantic styles of decoration.  Ms Burtonâ€s design draws on this heritage, additionally giving the cut and the intricate embellishment a distinctive, contemporary and feminine character.

The design

The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace.  The lace design was hand-engineered (appliquéd) using the Carrickmacross lace-making technique, which originated in Ireland in the 1820s.  Individual flowers have been hand-cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle to create a unique and organic design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock.

Hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace has been used throughout the bodice and skirt, and has been used for the underskirt trim.  With laces coming from different sources, much care was taken to ensure that each flower was the same colour.  The whole process was overseen and put together by hand by Ms Burton and her team.

The dress is made with ivory and white satin gazar.  The skirt echoes an opening flower, with white satin gazar arches and pleats.  The train measures two metres 70 centimetres.  The ivory satin bodice, which is narrowed at the waist and padded at the hips, draws on the Victorian tradition of corsetry and is a hallmark of Alexander McQueenâ€s designs.  The back is finished with 58 gazar and organza covered buttons fastened by Rouleau loops.  The underskirt is made of silk tulle trimmed with Cluny lace.

The Fabrics

French Chantilly lace was combined with English Cluny lace to be hand-worked in the Irish Carrickmacross needlework tradition.

All other fabrics used in the creation of the dress were sourced from and supplied by British companies.  The choice of fabrics followed extensive research by Sarah Burton and her team.

The Royal School of Needlework

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN), based at Hampton Court Palace, assisted the Alexander McQueen team in accurately cutting out the delicate motifs from the lace fabrics and positioning the lace motifs with precision into the new design.  The lace motifs were pinned, ‘framed up†and applied with stab stitching every two to three millimetres around each lace motif.  The workers washed their hands every thirty minutes to keep the lace and threads pristine, and the needles were renewed every three hours, to keep them sharp and clean.

The RSN workers included existing staff, former staff, tutors, graduates and students, with the youngest aged 19.

The RSNâ€s work was used primarily for the train and skirt of the Brideâ€s dress, the bodice and sleeves, the Brideâ€s shoes and the Brideâ€s veil.

Veil and Jewellery

The veil is made of layers of soft, ivory silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers, which was embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.  The veil is held in place by a Cartier ‘halo†tiara, lent to Miss Middleton by The Queen.  The ‘halo†tiara was made by Cartier in 1936 and was purchased by The Duke of York (later King George VI) for his Duchess (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) three weeks before he succeeded his brother as King.  The tiara was presented to Princess Elizabeth (now The Queen) by her mother on the occasion of her 18th birthday.

The Brideâ€s earrings, by Robinson Pelham, are diamond-set stylised oak leaves with a pear shaped diamond set drop and a pavé set diamond acorn suspended in the centre.  Inspiration for the design comes from the Middleton family’s new coat of arms, which includes acorns and oak leaves.  The earrings were made to echo the tiara.  The earrings were a personal gift to the Bride from her parents for her Wedding Day.

Robinson Pelham have also designed and made a pair of diamond earrings for Miss Philippa Middleton.  These earrings are more floral in nature to compliment the headpiece worn by Miss Philippa Middleton during the Service.

A tourmaline and diamond pendant and matching earrings have been designed and made for Mrs. Carole Middleton.  Two gold stick pins, one with a single gold acorn at the head and the other with an oak leaf, are also worn respectively by the Father of the Bride, Mr. Michael Middleton, and the Bride’s brother, Mr. James Middleton.

Wedding Shoes

The wedding shoes have made hand-made by the team at Alexander McQueen and are made of ivory duchesse satin with lace hand-embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.

Screenshot of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress via the Huffington Post

Alexander McQueen Moves Forward

Goodbye Mr. McQueen, hello Ms. Burton. Long live McQueen.

Style.com covered the passing of Alexander McQueen and the showing of the final collection he designed, but something that was equally important this year was the success of Sarah Burtonâ€s first show as the new designer for the McQueen label. The passing of such a genius creative mind was indeed tragic, and the showing of McQueenâ€s last collection was a special moment, but Burtonâ€s signal that the brand can honor McQueenâ€s legacy while moving forward was absolutely stellar.

John Gallianoâ€s Dior Couture Wows

Dior haute couture was in full bloom this year when John Galliano showed his Spring 2011 collection of flower-inspired looks. The imagery and execution of the designs combined with the high, tulip-like hair of the models for a full package display of gorgeousness and perhaps our favorite moment in fashion of 2010.

“McQ will become our responsibility alongside the core Alexander McQueen label, allowing us to share ideas and knowledge, expand the business and grow the already iconic brand,” President and CEO of Alexander McQueen Jonathan Akeroyd told WWD. “Over the past five years, McQ has established itself internationally with its young, renegade but always signature McQueen style and we are ready to take it to the next stage in its development.”

Speaking of development at Alexander McQueen, the label is enjoying wild success of late, as the highly anticipated first womenswear collection by newly appointed creative director Sarah Burton debuted with astounding praise from critics in Paris this month. Burton replaced Lee Alexander McQueen at the helm following his death earlier this year.

The general consensus among critics is that Burtonâ€s first collection was the perfect balance of respecting McQueenâ€s vision and adding personal, more feminine touches to advance the brand.

Hilary Alexander at the Telegraph said the collection included “elaborately-beautiful pieces which maintained the spirit of McQueen’s legacy, whilst injecting a new atmosphere of ethereal bohemian romance,” while Cathy Horyn at The New York Times said, “some references to the McQueen craft and drama are necessarily, but her choices reflected a gradual transition.”

At left, the closing look from Sarah Burton's first solo collection at Alexander Mc Queen. At right, designer Sarah Burton

Booth Moore at the Los Angeles Times noted that Burtonâ€s collection seemed more wearable than the typical McQueen line. He credited that to her status as a woman, saying the clothes, “didn’t have the tortured genius of the namesake designer … But the clothes may have been better for it.” He added that even though much of Burtonâ€s collection was typical McQueen, “Burton banished McQueen’s famously restrictive neckpieces, headdresses and hobbling shoes with a woman’s touch.”

What do you think of the collection? Perfect balance of McQueen and Burton, or would you have liked to see something else?

By now, most people are aware of the sad, untimely death of Alexander McQueen. When the Gucci Group, the parent company of the Alexander McQueen label, formally announced that the brand would continue much of the speculation turned to which designer would have the tailoring chops and creative sensibilities to carry the label forward.

Many of the people commenting on various blogs and websites tossed out Olivier Theysken’s name, but the speculation grew loudest around Gareth Pugh, whose striking, sometimes gothic designs share some of the elegant macabre sensibilities of McQueen’s designs. But that wasn’t the only element that inspired such wonder at McQueen’s pieces. There’s the impeccable Savile Row tailoring and unique prints among other things, so when Pugh denied the rumors of being considered as a replacement it wasn’t too much of a surprise.

Today, there are reports that Sarah Burton, who was often mentioned as being McQueen’s creative right hand, will soon be named Creative Director of Alexander McQueen. {WWD}

While her name sometimes made it into previous conversations on the subject, many people won’t be familiar with her name, but she could prove to be the smartest choice. Formerly head of womenswear for the label, Burton is a graduate of Central St. Martin’s (McQueen’s alma mater), and most important, worked with the designer for more than 10 years which is nearly all of McQueen’s professional career.

We mentioned in an earlier piece that McQueen’s passing didn’t have to mean the demise of the company if the Gucci Group followed examples set by the houses of Dior and Versace, which both maintained their influence after the unexpected deaths of strong head designers. In the case of Dior, his successor Yves Saint-Laurent not only continued the Dior legacy, but was successful in creating his own.

Only time will tell what Burton’s appointment will mean for the label, but her work on completing McQueen’s final collection after his death won critical acclaim. In a statement, Burton said that “creation of modern, beautifully crafted clothes was at the heart of Lee’s vision. I intend to stay true to his legacy.”