Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen Voted One of Time's 100 Most Influential

Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen since 2010, has been voted one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world - joining the likes of Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton.

The 37-year-old is the only fashion designer to make the list.
And singing her praises for the magazine is Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker, who has been a fan of the label for many years.
Parker labeled the Royal Wedding job as a 'burden and privilege' and commended Burton for creating a dress that 'lived up to an impossible dream.'
The actress wrote: 'She is a young woman who shouldered an enormous burden and privilege with dignity, heart and strength.

'And she did the undoable. A royal wedding dress that could never live up to the impossible dream. But it did.
'The whole world gasped in astonishment and sighed in reverie as she made one young woman's fantasy a reality for everyone.
'She is now, at 37, a designer the elder statesmen of fashion marvel at, who is spoken of as the real thing",
Parker went on to praise Burton's low-key character, "but you have to restrain her to make her hear that. She is busy working and never intended to find herself spoken of in headlines or chatter.
'She never imagined photo shoots or interviews. She thinks about women and art and stories, weaves her tale into the future of fashion. On the runway she is inspired. And she creates the most beautiful and complex layers and simple, perfect lines. And a waist. Keeping up the tradition. Lee would be so proud.'

Burton's confidentiality agreement from Buckingham Palace prevented her from revealing details of the dress ahead of the Royal couple's wedding eve.
She told Vogue: 'I remember standing in Westminster Abbey thinking, "This is unreal".
'It was like a fairy tale. And all I could think was, "I hope I don't trip over".
'I didn't realise the enormity of it until much nearer the wedding day. It was a magical experience.' 

Big secret: Sarah Burton said she designed wedding-dress style for her Spring/Summer 2011 gowns to throw people off

Alexander McQueen Fall Winter 2012

I'm obsessed. Beyond obsessed with this collection. It's everything I've wanted since I was three years old and insisted in sleeping in my tutu. It's my childhood fantasy merged with, well, my adulthood fantasy. Ruffles, feathers, layers of tulle, OH MY!!!

A merging of Alice in Wonderland with A Midsummer Night's Dream, non? Magical and whimsical. Creative director Sarah Burton's inspiration was the  'rippling underbellies of mushrooms', and it shows. 

This picture. I want to live inside this picture:

Amidst a front row including Anna Wintour and Salma Hayek, AP reports that Hal Rubenstein, InStyle magazine fashion director said: 'It was exhilarating... With talent like Sarah's you just sit back and relish the sense of fantasy. No one else has it.'

Joe Zee, creative director of Elle, tweeted: 'The genius of Sarah Burton & why I love her: She always delivers a stellar collection but takes a bow in a simple shirt, jeans & flats.'

Interview magazine calls her 'the year's brightest fashion star' following an stunning twelve months that has seen applauded collections for McQueen, the runaway success of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Savage Beauty exhibition and, of course, that dress: The Duchess of Cambridge glided down Westminster Cathedral's aisle to Prince William's side in one of Ms Burton's creations.

When asked how she landed an internship at McQueen, Burton responds, 

'It’s funny, because I sometimes ask that myself. I think maybe I was quite shy. I wasn't the trendiest girl at college,' she explained.

'I just loved what I was doing. I loved research at the time. I think I was always in the print room working.'