Third Wave Fashion

Fashion Icon Friday: Sarah Burton 

Sarah Burton is the 37 year old English fashion designer who is currently the creative director for the fashion label Alexander McQueen. Sarah started with McQueen as an intern and later became his assistant during the 90’s. In 2000 she was appointed Head of Womenswear, in which she designed couture dresses for Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Following McQueen’s death in 2010, Sarah replaced him as creative director.

Sarah is most famously known for designing the wedding dress Catherine Middleton wore when she married Prince William. She also designed the dress Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton, wore to the wedding, as well as several dresses that Kate wore to other wedding festivities. 

In 2011, Sarah was named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards and, in 2012, she was on Time Magazine’s List of Top 100 Influential People in the World. 

Sarah Burton’s work is inspiring and artistic; she creates collections those of which Alexander McQueen would most certainly be proud.

Fashion Icon Friday: Jane Birkin

What girl doesn’t wish that the ever-coveted Hermès Birkin Bag was named after them? Alas, our fashion icon this week is Jane Birkin.

The English singer and actress came onto the Swinging London scene in the 1960s. She appeared in films like the 1968 Wonderwall and Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. She was even in Don Juan, Or If Don Juan Were a Woman with our other fashion icon, Brigitte Bardot. Both were stylish sex symbols of that era.

As a singer, her infamous song is “Je T’Aime…Moi Non Plus” (“I Love You… Nor Do I”), a duet with Serge Gainsbourg, the French singer, songwriter, actor, director, and composer. Jane and Serge collaborated numerous times, and also had a 13-year long romantic relationship together after her marriage to composer John Barry ended.

So how did the lusted-over Birkin bag come to be named after Jane Birkin herself? Rumor has it the Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Jane on a Paris-to-London flight in 1984. She was traveling with a straw purse and when she put it in the overhead compartment, everything fell out. She explained to him that she couldn’t find a leather weekend bag that she liked—clearly it was fate! Shortly after, he created the now classic and exclusive leather Birkin bag for her.

Jane still does some acting and singing as well as working closely with Amnesty International and efforts to bring AIDS awareness—and yes, still carries a Birkin bag.

Fashion Icon Friday: Jenna Lyons

Jenna Lyons proves that you truly can work your way up to the top. J. Crew’s creative director started at the company about 20 years ago as an assistant to someone’s assistant; now she is the one responsible for turning the prepster brand into a fashion-forward multimillion dollar mass retailer. Did you know they were the official partner of the CFDA this year? That’s impressive!

Jenna moved to New York in 1987 to study at Parsons School of Design. After graduating, she worked briefly at Donna Karan before switching over to J.Crew, and the rest is history. Jenna has grown with J.Crew from a small mom and pop company, to the international retailer it is today. Teaming up with CEO Mickey Drexler, together they have found the perfect balance of creative and commerical that draws millions into J.Crew. “Jenna’s Picks,” items handpicked by her, widely influence shoppers who are inspired by her mix-and-match style.

In an interview with Business of Fashion, Jenna talks about how she makes decisions that have gotten her and the company to where they are today: “Ultimately, fashion is all about gut anyway—there’s no science to what this should look like or that should look like or how many times you can redraw that or resketch that or redo that catalogue cover. The fact of the matter is, either it grabs you or it doesn’t.”

She’s not just fashion-forward, but also a forward thinker—and we love that.

Fashion Icon Friday: Daphne Guinness 

Who can say they are a muse for Karl Lagerfeld, BFF’s with the late Alexander McQueen, used to party with Andy Warhol, modeled in the exclusive Tom Ford women’s collection show, and had a MAC cosmetic line inspired by them?

Daphne Guinness can, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface of what an impact she has had on the fashion, art, and film worlds. Daphne has quite the family background; she’s an heir to the Guinness—yes the beer makers—family and her mother was a muse for Man Ray and Dali. Daphne followed in her mother’s footsteps, as she has been a muse to countless designers and artists—even Lady Gaga has said she’s inspired by her.

Daphne doesn’t just inspire fashion and art, but gives back to other artists, theaters, and libraries. She has participated in a number of charity events and fashion shows. Daphne has also been an artist herself, as well as an actress, and produced short films. Third Wave Fashion got to check out the exhibit at The Museum at FIT devoted to the amazing fashion pieces of Daphne Guinness.

She truly emulates the phrase “Fashion Icon.”