British fashion house Alexander McQueen is defending itself against
accusations made by an English bridal designer that the wedding gown wore
by the Duchess of Cambridge was based on her sketches.
Christine Kendall, a bridal designer based by Hertfordshire, has mounted a
lawsuit against Alexander McQueen as she claims her ideas were used to
create the famous wedding gown worn by the Duchess when she was wed to
Prince William. Kendall has accused the British fashion house of breach of
copyright in a claim filed at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in
London, according to the Sunday Times. Kendall’s lawyer argues in the claim
that her designs were “unfairly taken and copied by” the fashion house, who
in turn firmly deny the accusation.
The famous gown, which features an ivory satin bodice, was designed by
Sarah Burton and handmade in Alexander McQueen’s studio in London and kept
hidden until the big day on April 29, 2011. Kendall maintains that the
fashion house copied sketches she submitted for the Duchess wedding gown
nearly five years ago.
Up close: Hand painted leather corsets & Sarabande lace panels for Alexander McQueen AW16 #AlexanderMcQueen #LFW
A photo posted by Alexander McQueen (@worldmcqueen) on Feb 21, 2016 at 2:23pm PST
“Proceedings have been issued because our client is certain that her
company’s design was unfairly taken and copied,” said Kendall’s solicitor
Humna Nadim, of the Manchester law firm Kuits to the Sunday Times. “This
claim is not against the duchess and there is no allegation of wrongdoing
against the palace.”A spokesperson for Alexander McQueen has responded to be claims, saying the
fashion house was “utterly baffled” by the lawsuit. “Christine Kendall
first approached us, at Alexander McQueen, almost four years ago, when we
were clear with her that any suggestion Sarah Burton’s design of the royal
wedding dress was copied from her designs was nonsense,” said the
spokesperson to WWD.“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 if’s, buts or maybes here: This claim is
ridiculous.”Photos: Replica of gown by Infomatique, Flickr