Alexander McQueen Sued for Copying Kate Middleton Wedding Gown

Christine Kendall is claiming that Sarah Burton- the designer of the wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton “copied” her ideas. She claims that she sent her ideas to the palace for consideration nearly five years ago and that she received a letter of response from a royal official in January 2011, thanking her for the designs that she had submitted. Kendall states that the letter read:

“Miss Catherine Middleton has asked me to write and thank you so much for your letter of 18th November enclosing bridal gown designs”, it continued “Miss Middleton was most interested to see your work and very much appreciated you taking the trouble to write. Should she wish to see more of your designs I will of course be in touch.”

Hertfordshire based Kendall is claiming that the final design incorporates some of the concepts that she submitted and thus amounts to a breach of copyright.

She has now filed a claim against the iconic fashion house at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court- London. In the claim, Kendall states that prior to the Royal wedding, she presented the Duchess of Cambridge with her sketches. She believes that her sketches have inspired the final design. Kendall has made clear through her solicitor that “this claim is not against the duchess and there is no allegation of wrongdoing against the palace”. Further a spokesperson for the Royal family has confirmed that the Duchess of Cambridge herself never saw the sketches.

Alexander McQueen has issued the following statement in response to the claim:

“We are utterly baffled by this legal claim. 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 wedding dress was copied from her designs was nonsense. 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 ifs, buts or maybes here: this claim is ridiculous”.

Humna Nadim- Kendall’s solicitor of Manchester firm Kuits, has confirmed: “Proceedings have been issued because our client is certain that her company’s design was unfairly taken and copied.”