As debuts go it was a stunner. Sarah Burton’s work at Alexander McQueen established her as a global designer force, but could she excel outside the confines of the house of McQueen? Hell yes. From the very first look, Burton’s mastery of cut, her total control of line and proportion were evident. The precision of her work and her design dexterity is awe-inspiring. She stripped it back and built it up, in one fluid movement, starting with a mesh catsuit printed with the date of Mr Hubert de Givenchy’s debut couture show in 1952 in a typeface taken from an original Stockman dummy from the time. The look was simple but telegraphed that Burton’s Givenchy would be about the femininity of the body.

“I want to address everything about modern women. Strength, vulnerability, emotional intelligence, feeling powerful or very sexy. All of it,” she said. “It’s my natural instinct to go back to pattern-cutting, to craftsmanship. To cut, shape and proportion. It’s what I feel, how I work, and want to do.”

The tailoring was superlative. Impeccable hourglass coats and jackets, some worn some worn as mini dresses, some worn backwards. Nothing looked ordinary. Herringbone trousers suits came with ombré dipped hems. This is a designer who truly knows how to cut. She also breathed a modernity into red carpet with impressive precision. Floral embroideries blossomed on an ice white column dress, whilst lashings of yellow or white tulle was directed into striking architectural geometries.

Yes, there were archive references. Mr Givenchy loved bows and ties and nipped in fifties waists, but this collection never laboured under the weight of nostalgia. Burton was too present for that.

It didn’t look like a McQueen collection. It didn’t look like a 1950s throwback. It felt modern and new and powerful and beautiful. Bravo Sarah Burton.

givenchy.com