The woman who created Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s iconic wedding dress has been honoured at a prestigious awards ceremony. Sarah Burton was named Designer of the Year by influential style magazine Harper’s Bazaar at its annual Women of the Year Awards.
British fashion loving Kate, 29, chose the creative director at Alexander McQueen to design her dress for her wedding to Prince William in April. The eyes of the world were on Kate as she stepped out of her vintage Rolls Royce, cementing her status as a fashion icon and making Burton the most in-demand designer of the decade.
Both Sarah’s wedding and bridesmaid gown designs have been copied by high street stores, with Debenhams launching their version of Pippa Middleton’s dress last week. Both Sarah and Kate were winners on the night, as the Duchess was named as “Britain’s Queen of Style” as she topped the magazine's Best Dressed list.The awards were held at Claridge’s Hotel in London and saw a host of celebrity ladies honoured for their contribution to society.
Dame Judi Dench received a Lifetime Achievement award while International Woman of the Year went to Arianna Huffington, co-founder of news website The Huffington Post. Jessie J received the award for Breakthrough of the Year, Tracy Emin was named Visionary of the Year and Helena Bonham-Carter took the Role Model of the Year prize.
Supermodels Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Eva Herzigova, Yasmin Le Bon and Cindy Crawford were collectively named Fashion Icons of the Year. And so the men weren’t completely left out, fashion and Oscar-nominated film director Tom Ford received the award for a Man in a Woman's World.