Jonathan Akeroyd

>> Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Kate Middleton has chosen Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton to do her wedding dress. Burton was reportedly picked for her relatively low profile and her alternative take on elegance; Burton's work is said to have first caught Middleton's eye after she designed an off-the-shoulder wedding dress for Harper's Bazaar's Sara Buys, who married Camilla Parker Bowles's son Tom in 2005.

Work on the royal wedding dress is said to be well under way in Buckingham Palace, and the designer of choice has been sworn to secrecy. So it comes as no surprise that when questioned, Burton replied, "I am not doing it." McQueen CEO Jonathan Akeroyd, who reportedly told a colleague that Burton had been chosen, also denied the reports: "No, not at all. I am the CEO. I would know if we were doing it."

Cathy Horyn notes, however: "It wouldn’t at all surprising if the house and its creative director, Sarah Burton, had been chosen. I’m only musing, but a McQueen dress, in view of the late designer’s fascination with British history, makes a lot of sense. It also seems a good generational choice. And the studio, now expertly led by Ms. Burton, has the skills and resources to make a custom dress."

>> According to Alexander McQueen CEO Jonathan Akeroyd, the label is doing significant business in custom-made clothes, and for that reason, he's looking into leasing some extra space to accommodate: “We’ve been discussing it for a number of months because the demand is so strong.” McQueen custom dresses are easily in the $30,000 range; Akeroyd says some of the orders have been for archival pieces and others are for Sarah Burton's Spring 2011 collection, but the custom business on a whole is profitable. Also: when the Costume Institute Gala rolls around in May, keep your eyes peeled — two dresses from McQueen's final collection just arrived at the label's Manhattan boutique for customers to wear to the event. [On the Runway]

>> Next year's Costume Institute Gala — on May 2, 2011 — has its theme: "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty." Anna Wintour, Stella McCartney, and Colin Firth are set to co-chair the event, with Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek as honorary chairs.

The accompanying exhibit will run at the museum May 4-July 31, 2011, and will cover McQueen's work from his Central Saint Martins postgraduate collection in 1992 to his final runway presentation, which took place weeks after his death in February 2010. A hundred pieces from his 19-year career will be on view, drawn from the McQueen London archives, the Givenchy archive in Paris, and private collections, including Isabella Blow's wardrobe, which Daphne Guinness owns in its entirety.

Curator Andrew Bolton, who is spearheading the project, stressed that he doesn't want the exhibit to feel like a retrospective, so the focus is thematic rather than chronological, reflecting McQueen's fascination with the 19th-century Romantic movement. Among the themed galleries planned: “The Savage Mind,” “Romantic Gothic,” “Romantic Nationalism,” “Romantic Exoticism,” and “Romantic Primitivism.” There will also be a “Cabinet of Curiosities” gallery featuring McQueen's collaborations with Philip Treacy and Shaun Leane, and a separate screening room to display videos of McQueen's theatrical runway presentations.

Sam Gainsbury and Joseph Bennett, who helped produce those dramatic shows, are serving as creative consultants to the exhibit, and the Alexander McQueen company is underwriting the whole thing with support from American Express and Conde Nast. “We felt it would be a great opportunity to show Lee’s work and his incredible contribution to the world of fashion and art,” Jonathan Akeroyd, president and CEO of Alexander McQueen, told WWD. “It felt like the right thing to do. Lee loved the museum. It will give us a great opportunity to show Lee’s work and the Alexander McQueen brand to a much broader community. It’s the greatest tribute and important for his legacy, but it’s also an exciting new chapter in the history of the brand.”

>> Alexander McQueen announced today that it would take full control of its McQ contemporary line as of Fall 2011. Previously, the range was produced under license by Italian company SINV SpA, but the five-year agreement expires after the Spring 2011 line. Pina Ferlisi was named creative director of McQ in June and will continue to design the line under the purview of Sarah Burton. "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,” stated Jonathan Akeroyd, president and CEO of Alexander McQueen. “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.” [WWD]

>> This week seems to the week of designer appointments: Olivier Theyskens partnering with Theory, Christophe Lemaire replacing Jean Paul Gaultier at Hermes, Giles Deacon taking over at Emanuel Ungaro, and now Sarah Burton, head of womenswear design at Alexander McQueen, has been named creative director at the label.

Burton had worked with Lee Alexander McQueen since 1996 and was promoted to her current position at the brand in 2000.  She was saddled with completing McQueen’s final collection — the 16 pieces of which were 80 percent finished at the time of the designer's death. Burton said in a statement of her appointment: “The creation of modern, beautifully crafted clothes was at the heart of Lee’s vision. I intend to stay true to his legacy.”

That's just the way the McQueen execs want it »