Somewhat surreal, as if it was on cue, the First Lady Michelle Obama wore a vivid red Alexander McQueen gown to last evening’s state dinner with President Hu Jintao of China. Indirectly, it was nod to Sarah Burton, the caretaker of the Alexander McQueen fashion house after his untimely death. In no way an easy task, Burton tiptoed around her own take on design while she winded down the remnants McQueen’s last designs. All that changed this week when the long time aide to McQueen finally debuted her own styles.

It was all regimental and militarism as stern looking model trotted down the runway. Fur collar red overcoat to an officer’s coat emblematic of the Royal Navy, perhaps Burton got wind of the royal wedding earlier than most? The pace soon switched from the past might of British Empire to the current might of Great Britain, the powerbrokers of Canary Wharf. Saville Row suiting with multiple lapels, roomy cuts, or just a hint of contrast colors. Burton certainly has come to her own in collection.