Cheshire's Amanda Wakeley and Sarah Burton - Designs fit for a princess

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It’s going to be a massive fashion moment when Kate Middleton walks down the aisle to marry her prince. The dress will be scrutinised by millions of pairs of eyes and could well be a career-defining commission for whoever has designed it.

Kate and William have said they want to keep as much privacy for themselves as possible despite the world-wide attention focused on their wedding and that includes keeping the designer’s name under wraps until the big day.

But on April 29th someone will be thrust into the full media spotlight and among the hot tips with bookmakers are Cheshire-born designer Amanda Wakeley and Sarah Burton.

Speaking exclusively to Cheshire Life, Amanda, who famously dressed Princess Diana, was keeping tight-lipped about any possible involvement but did say: ‘Kate is a future Queen of England so the dress must reflect that. Westminster Abbey has an incredible scale so the wedding dress must have glamour and grandeur.’

No stranger to dressing Hollywood royalty, Amanda was born in Chester in what is now the Countess of Chester Hospital - renamed in 1983 by the Prince and Princess of Wales after one of Diana’s more obscure titles - where her father, Sir John Wakeley, was a prominent surgeon.

She and her two brothers grew up in Mickle Trafford and Amanda, whose mother June was a physiotherapist, attended Merton House the co-educational nursery and prep school.

Amanda’s passion for making clothes developed when she was a child. ‘As soon as I could reach the pedal of the sewing machine I started raiding my mother’s dressing-up box and cutting clothes out from sheets,’ she said.

After finishing her schooling at Cheltenham Ladies College and tired of the grey British weather she went to live in America. ‘I had a fantastic time. First I was modelling and then working in the design business.
‘I thought there was a gap in the market in Britain where understated luxurious clothes designed by the likes of Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren were not available.’ So she came home.

With a small loan from her parents she set up in London in 1990 and designed a 20-piece capsule collection and the business grew - rapidly.
‘I think I just hit the mood of the moment. And it was a big boost to create a working wardrobe for Princess Diana. She was a really amazing woman and great fun.’

In those early days she dressed Michael Caine’s wife Shakira and Elizabeth Hurley and now Angelina Jolie, Dame Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson and Demi Moore are fans of Amanda’s red carpet glamour gowns.

But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. After her divorce in 1998 she was forced to sell the brand, though she remained as creative director, but now things are looking rosy. She’s back in charge, has a new partner and a new flagship store in South Kensington and is fizzing with ideas for future developments.

She has created a range of zodiac bracelets and necklaces and sterling silver and diamond rings and earrings for the Ernest Jones jewellery chain, and is looking to add lingerie and shoes to her label.

‘We’ve have a staff of about 60 mainly in retail having recently moved our production to India, Hong Kong and China where the wider range of skills has extended what we can do. And we have strengthened our on-line presence too,’ she added.

Despite the A-list client list, Amanda remains down-to-earth and has been working long days to get the new store up and running while also preparing for her London Fashion Week catwalk show.

Home is a London flat during the week, while the weekends are divided between Hampshire and Switzerland where she can ski. Water-skiing and sailing are other passions as well as dog walking, running and reading. And she makes regular visits to Cheshire where her parents still live.

In the 20 years she has been working fashions have come and gone, but she has stuck to her ethic of dressing real women - women with curves and confidence. ‘It’s not high fashion, it’s about style,’ she insists. 

Another royal occasion

Amanda Wakeley was made OBE in the 2010 Queen's New Year's Honours List by the Prince of Wales in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The award was for her services to the British fashion industry and her charity work. She co-chairs the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Appeal which has raised £10m for research since it was founded in 1996.

She works for other causes too and recently hosted a glamorous ball at the Midland Hotel in Manchester to raise funds for the Royal Exchange Theatre charity which aims to promote educational plays and encourage all forms of the arts.

Glamour gowns

Amanda is no stranger when it comes to dressing celebrities for the big occasion. Her understated style has meant she has designed knockout outfits for Queen Rania of Jordan as well as many actresses who want to stun on the red carpet.

Angelina Jolie, Lea Michelle and Heidi Klum are among a galaxy of star names who have chosen Amanda’s designs for film premieres or award shows.

It's no surprise she's won the British Fashion Award for glamour three times.

You can find her designs in Alizari in Chester, Si Belle in Tarporley and in Harvey Nichols in Manchester.

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Sarah Burton - By royal appointment?

Sarah Burton, who was born in South Manchester to an accountant father and a music teacher mother, moved to study print design at St Martin’s College in London after completing an art foundation course at Manchester Polytechnic.

One of five children, she planned to continue her education by studying fine art at Oxford University, but her interest in fashion was too strong.
She joined the McQueen label in 1996 on a year-long internship. It was the beginning of a 14-year collaboration and friendship and she eventually became his right hand woman.

After Alexander McQueen’s suicide last year she was the obvious choice to head up the label, but was initially reluctant to step into the limelight.

The decision was several weeks in the making, but since then she has settled in and moved the brand from strength to strength. She was roundly praised for her first solo show in Paris last year.

It was Sarah who dressed Michelle Obama in a striking asymetrical dress for a state dinner with the Chinese, and is famed for her meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship.

She has worked on one-off pieces for stars such as Bjork, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Campbell and Lady Gaga.

And she has Royal pedigree too - she designed the dress worn by Sara Buys when she married the Duchess of Cornwall’s son Tom Parker Bowles in 2005.

Now 36, Sarah is quiet influence and lives with her photographer husband David in north London and for her own day-to-day look favours jeans over high fashion.

It may be this low-key approach to high-end romantic gowns with a sense of history and the court - hallmarks of the McQueen label - which won over Kate.

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