The London Times reports that bridal designer Christine Kendall has filed a lawsuit against the British fashion house Alexander McQueen, which designed the princess’ gown, for breach of copyright.
Christine, who has studios “on the edge of a wood in Hertfordshire” claims Kate’s now-famous satin-and-lace stunner was based on sketches she’d submitted to the royal palace as part of an open call for ideas from British designers.
An Alexander McQueen representative says that the house is “utterly baffled” by the claim, while the Duchess herself has said that she had never even seen Christine’s sketches.
But this is not the first time the designer has caused a royal stir.
About a year after the wedding, she contacted the house of McQueen, accusing the brand of stealing her designs.
“We were clear with her that any suggestion Sarah Burton’s design of the royal wedding dress was copied from her designs was nonsense,” was the curt response.
Undeterred, the derided Christine then took to YouTube, posting videos with shade-throwing titles like How To Design a Royal Wedding Dress, which asked viewers: “Would the royal wedding dress have looked the same without my sketches?”
The public seemed to care as much as the McQueen reps about the allegations, with the last video garnering less than 700 views at the time. But since news of her lawsuit broke, that same clip has now been viewed 36,000 times.
“I believe without my sketches the royal wedding dress would not have looked as it did,” insists the clearly PR-savvy Christine.
“A very important part of creating a couture gown is to create aspects that are not easily copied. To my knowledge, there is nothing similar available anywhere.”
