UK designer sues McQueen over royal wedding dress

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Apr 25, 2016

Wedding dress designer Christine Kendall, who runs a small studio in Hertfordshire, UK, has sued fashion house Alexander McQueen, according to reports in UK media.

Kendall claims she presented sketches of her design for the royal wedding dress to the Duchess of Cambridge and that they bear a "strong resemblance" to the final dress, which was created by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen. Kendall said that "without my sketches, the royal wedding dress would not have looked like it did."

The designer has filed a claim at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in London, suing McQueen for breach of copyright, but says there is no claim against the Duchess or the palace.

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The British fashion house has responded, saying "We are utterly baffled by this legal claim." McQueen also revealed that Kendall first approached them almost four years ago "when we were clear with her that any suggestion that Sarah Burton's design of the royal wedding dress was copied from her designs complete nonsense."

It added: "Sarah Burton never saw any of Ms Kendall's designs or sketches and did not know of Ms Kendall before Ms Kendall got in touch with us – some 13 months after the wedding. We do not know why Ms Kendall has raised this again, but there are no ifs, buts or maybes here: this claim is ridiculous."

"It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every moment of it," Burton said in a statement when the dress was first unveiled in 2011.