--- title: Alexander McQueen Copied Kate Middleton Wedding Dress: Claim description: Alexander McQueen accused of stealing Kate Middleton wedding dress concept by designer Christine Kendall. canonical: https://time.com/4306624/alexander-mcqueen-kate-middleton-wedding-dress/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-25T17:29:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:31:49.718Z og:title: Alexander McQueen Sued for 'Copying' Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress og:description: The fashion house denies these claims og:url: https://time.com/4306624/alexander-mcqueen-kate-middleton-wedding-dress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dd6f50ff02a90d/69889084428a9e7fd1cd25ca/gettyimages-113264953.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Wedding of Prince William with Catherine Middleton - Westminster Abbey og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alexander McQueen Sued for 'Copying' Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress twitter:description: The fashion house denies these claims twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dd6f50ff02a90d/69889084428a9e7fd1cd25ca/gettyimages-113264953.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Alexander McQueen Sued for 'Copying' Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 25, 2016 5:29 PM UTC  Catherine Middleton and Pippa Middleton arrive to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England. Catherine Middleton and Pippa Middleton arrive to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England.Mike Marsland/WireImage—Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 25, 2016 5:29 PM UTC Alexander McQueen’s label is being sued by a bridal designer who claims that the fashion house’s creative director Sarah Burton “copied” her ideas for the wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton that were sent to the palace for consideration nearly five years ago, [_The Sunday Times_](http://Waxman, Olivia - Time U.S. olivia%5Fwaxman@timemagazine.com> Apr 25, 12:06 Possible to please send me text of the following article ASAP? Thank you so much http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-04-24/news/designer-claims-stitch-up-over-kates-wedding-dress-3n66bx0gd) reports. Christine Kendall says she received letter from a royal official in January 2011 that thanked her for the sketches and mentioned that the Duchess of Cambridge was “most interested” in her work. She claims the final design incorporates some of the concepts that she submitted. A spokesperson for the Duchess of Cambridge told [_The Times_](http://Waxman, Olivia - Time U.S. olivia%5Fwaxman@timemagazine.com> Apr 25, 12:06 Possible to please send me text of the following article ASAP? Thank you so much http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-04-24/news/designer-claims-stitch-up-over-kates-wedding-dress-3n66bx0gd)that the royal never saw the sketches, while a spokesperson for Alexander McQueen [told the paper](http://Waxman, Olivia - Time U.S. olivia%5Fwaxman@timemagazine.com> Apr 25, 12:06 Possible to please send me text of the following article ASAP? Thank you so much http://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2016-04-24/news/designer-claims-stitch-up-over-kates-wedding-dress-3n66bx0gd) that the label is “baffled” by the claims, dismissing them as “nonsense” and “ridiculous.” Her solicitor Humna Nadim [confirmed](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/24/designer-sues-fashion-house-over-claims-sarah-burton-copied-her/) that legal proceedings had begun because Kendall is “certain” that her concepts were “unfairly taken and copied.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4306624/alexander-mcqueen-kate-middleton-wedding-dress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4306624/alexander-mcqueen-kate-middleton-wedding-dress/"},"headline":"Alexander McQueen Sued for 'Copying' Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress","datePublished":"2016-04-25T17:29:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:49.718Z","description":"A designer says her sketches were copied, while the fashion house denies these claims","url":"https://time.com/4306624/alexander-mcqueen-kate-middleton-wedding-dress/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dd6f50ff02a90d/69889084428a9e7fd1cd25ca/gettyimages-113264953.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dd6f50ff02a90d/69889084428a9e7fd1cd25ca/gettyimages-113264953.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Wedding of Prince William with Catherine Middleton - Westminster Abbey","caption":"The Wedding of Prince William with Catherine Middleton - Westminster Abbey","creditText":"Mike Marsland/WireImage—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4306624/alexander-mcqueen-kate-middleton-wedding-dress/","name":"Alexander McQueen Sued for 'Copying' Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress"}}]}] ```