Sarah Burton is in a sweet spot. The fashion house at which she succeeded the late Alexander McQueen is riding a wave of commercial success, powered by last year's royal wedding dress. Meanwhile her catwalk collections, which were good right from the start, get better with each passing season.
Her Paris fashion week collection for Alexander McQueen was a knockout not only by her standards, but by those set by McQueen himself. Burton's McQueen is a different place from that which she inherited: she has clipped some of the thorns, and let the sunlight in.
Female empowerment, control, secrecy, precision of form, sex and nature are codes are at the heart of the McQueen brand, and this season Burton hit upon the perfect plot device to tell her story.
The queen bee and her hive were the starting points for a collection which was, as is right and proper at McQueen, tempting as honey but with a deadly sting. Organza and lace suits were embroidered with hexagons and honey bees; cocktail dresses in nectar-sweet colours were dotted with appliqué flowers caught between their silk layers.
Beekeeper hats in laser-cut patent leather and crystal wedge heels packed honeycomb-tight with amber crystals bookended looks of perfect symmetry. By the time Burton took her bow, to the tune of the Archies' Sugar Sugar, the designer had made one thing very clear: duchesses are terrifically useful publicity, but this label needs no other queen bee.
