How Sarah Burton Is Changing The Game Of Sustainable Fashion

With her platform at Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton is empowering a new generation and changing the game of sustainable fashion.

- Lydia Slater

Walking towards 27 Old Bond Street, one passes a succession of boutiques guarded by black-clad staff, whose gimlet gaze is a challenge to anyone who might wish to venture across their thresholds.

At Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton takes a radically different approach: She hopes to encourage everyone— schoolchildren, students and indeed, anybody with an interest in fashion—through her doors. “It’s vital that people have access to creativity, especially children,” says Burton, who has been the brand’s Creative Director for the past decade. “So much of it has been taken away from schools and people don’t see it as leading to a career. But fashion is a huge industry in this country. It’s an amazing melting pot. And if you’re really brilliant with computers, or good at maths, you could come and work here. I want to reach out to younger children and say that this is a possibility. Even if you don’t want to do this job, I think music and creativity are so important for your soul.”

We are talking on the top floor of the store, which has been dedicated to an “experiential space”, where workshops covering everything from pattern-cutting to fashion history and communications are held for schools and colleges. Burton is dressed in jeans, a white shirt and a pair of the new cult McQueen trainers. She has a navy pullover slung over her shoulders, no makeup, her hair hangs loose on her shoulders. You wouldn’t look twice at her in the street, which is the way she prefers it: She rarely gives interviews and hates having her picture taken (fortunately, her husband David is a photographer and took our shots). The Burtons live quietly in north London with their twin daughters and eschew the party circuit.