'I didn't want people to think that I could ever pretend to be him or replace him ... but the thing was to keep the spirit of the brand alive,' says Sarah Burton, discussing her decision to fill the shoes of Lee Alexander McQueen as creative director of his eponymous label.
'I was very reluctant to take the job. When you lose someone you love, who is so inspiring that you can't even imagine beginning to take on what he did - well, I almost didn't.'
McQueen committed suicide in February last year, just days after his mother's death. Three months later, Burton was appointed creative director of his label and, in September last year, she presented the first Alexander McQueen womenswear collection she had wholly created.
'It was really hard. Yes, there was a fear [when stepping out to take a bow after her first runway show]. It was terrible and just tragic. But I think the team all felt we had to be together, carrying on doing what he wanted us to do.'
Succeeding one of the era's fashion greats was never going to be easy, but Burton already has people won over. Since taking the reins, the 37-year-old British designer, who had spent all her working life at Alexander McQueen, has won consistently rave reviews and critical and commercial success.
In April, she took her place among designer royalty when Kate Middleton walked down the aisle of London's Westminster Abbey in an Alexander McQueen dress designed by Burton. Waiting for Middleton was the heir to the British throne, Prince William. Awaiting the label and its new creative director was a level of cultural clout that could make any couture house envious.
So, when it was announced that Burton, who was last month named designer of the year by the British Fashion Council, would be visiting Beijing for the opening of the first Alexander McQueen store in the mainland, regional fashion editors scrambled to get face time with her.
