Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. Beaded evening gown. 'Oceans,' Spring-Summer 2012, London.

Full length sheath gown with high neck, encrusted with heavy silver and clear glass bead embroidery. Long fringes of bugle beads are massed around the neck, hips and down the centre back. Around the bottom of the dress are deep layers of stiffened metallic organza forming a mermaid flare and long train.

Given by Leon Max

This show-stopping evening gown was created by Sarah Burton for her third collection as director of the Alexander McQueen fashion brand. Whilst it featured in the Spring-Summer 2012 Ready-to-Wear collection (presented in October 2011), the complexity and extravagance of this gown, encrusted with glass bead embroidery, means that it could only have been made on an individually commissioned basis. It was modelled in the show by Josefien Rodermans, and as 32nd look out of 33, was part of a grand finale of extravagant, exquisitely cut and embellished evening gowns. This was a significant collection for Sarah Burton – afterwards, in an unprecedented move, Emnanuelle Alt, the editor of French Vogue, got down on her knees before the designer to express her thanks and love for what Burton had done. The collection expanded on the aquatic themes explored in McQueen’s last collection before his death in 2010, making it particularly important in the lexicon of the brand

- Daniel Milford-Cottam, 12/07/2016

T.91-2016