Another successful season for Sarah Burton, but can she live up to the dynasty forever? By Betsy Chadbourn.

Following Alexander McQueen’s untimely death in 2010, Central St Martin’s graduate and right-hand woman, Sarah Burton, resigned her position as trusted advisor and sharpened her needles to become Creative Director of the famed fashion house. Many doubted her. Many questioned her capabilities. And many suggested that no homage could ever be paid to the standard of the late designer. Many were wrong.

As designer of the year at the 2011 British Fashion Awards, and creator of the most talked-about dress of the year, Sarah Burton has most certainly sewed her way into the hearts of the fashion establishment. During a tribute exhibit to McQueen at the Metropolitan Museum in New York last year, Burton proffered: “I love what I do, and I think it’s a gift and a privilege to love your job”. It’s this unpretentious, unassuming attitude that allows Sarah Burton to inject a new sense of femininity and romanticism into her decidedly-wearable collections, which perhaps wasn’t so evident in the company before.

However, the question arose in the New Year whether her rapid success was a fad, or something permanent. Could Burton continue to tribute the originality and vision of such a household name, or would her inspiration falter, leaving her in the history books as a ‘could-have’, as so many before her?

This resounding query was surely answered as Sarah Burton’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection stormed the catwalk in autumn, leaving fashion forces remembering why they drag themselves around the world in uncomfortable couture for months each year. The collection was ‘a triumph’; Anna Wintour was quoted after the show in her trademark oversized shades. “I was thinking of a woman as an object of desire,” Sarah Burton explained on her designs, “this is a collection about excess – an exploration of ideas of beauty at their most extreme.”

Opening with an exquisite embellished gold dress, draped to perfection, the metallic palette gradually bled into dusty lilac and ice-cream coral, finishing with a burst of flamenco-esque red and McQueen’s notorious bondage black. An abundance of architectural lace peplums, high-waists, and plunging necklines – this is surely a season to covet. Each piece was adorned with intricate latticework, sequins and miniscule feathers, echoing the ocean depths; crusted barnacles, floating seaweed and hidden treasure. The comparison continued as models glided down the catwalk in creeping coral-like lace masks - inspired by those created for the Metropolitan exhibit by flamboyant hair aficionado, Guido Palau - features concealed and indistinguishable. With a traditional feminine silhouette, the ordinary onlooker was transported to a fantasy of peculiar mermaids and Gatsby-like flappers.

Still artistic and edgy, but with a new feminine direction, Alexander McQueen has prevailed once again, and to new levels, on only her third ever show. Burton and McQueen share such a strong stylistic lexicon, that it is hard to imagine that she won’t continue to succeed.

The self-effacing Burton continues to flourish with her deep appreciation for McQueen’s aesthetic, taking his trademarks and adding her own flair. It’s unmistakeable that this is just the beginning of Sarah Burton. An irreplaceable addition to the British couturier. A triumph for Alexander McQueen. A credit to herself. Hail the new First Lady of fashion.