Wedding dress claim denied by McQueen label

A spokesman for the Alexander McQueen fashion label has denied claims that its creative director Sarah Burton is to design Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

A source close to Burton said: "It's not true." A story in The Sunday Times had claimed that Jonathan Akeroyd, head of the McQueen label, had told one of his colleagues that Burton had been commissioned by the bride-to-be, but Mr Akeroyd denied that this happened.

Burton, who worked with McQueen for 14 years before his death in February last year, has seen her profile soar over the past six months. Most recently she was responsible for the red, poppy-print ballgown worn by First Lady Michelle Obama to the White House state dinner honouring the visiting Chinese President, Hu Jintao.

For Ms Middleton to have worn a McQueen design to her wedding would have been massively out of character, as she is known for her relatively low-key and some-would-say anonymous dress sense.

Other names who have so far been mentioned include Bruce Oldfield – who was the favourite designer of Prince William's mother Diana, Princess of Wales – as well as Phillipa Lepley and Alice Temperley.