So much has changed for Taylor Swift in the 17 years since she sang about being the princess who gets the prince in 2008’s ‘Love Story’. But recent developments suggest that the superstar may still have visions of a royal wedding dancing through her head.
Rumour has it that Swift has commissioned no less eminent a designer than Sarah Burton to create the gown for her wedding to Travis Kelce.
Swift is thought to have travelled to London last week to film a music video for ‘Elizabeth Taylor’, track two from The Life of a Showgirl. One anonymous tipster said her visit had another, more personal purpose: a meeting with Givenchy Creative Director Burton.
The tip, submitted anonymously to Deuxmoi with the subject line ‘tailor’ (ahem), said, ‘The most talked about bride to be will be wearing Givenchy by Sarah Burton to her wedding.’
Sarah Burton at the 2025 WWD Honors at Cipriani South Street on October 28, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
Burton, of course, has form with major gowns – so much so that she’s one of the few designers for whom the Swift-Kelce wedding wouldn’t even rank as her highest-profile gig. In 2011, when she was creative director at Alexander McQueen, Burton designed the Princess of Wales’s gown for her wedding to Prince William.
The royal wedding was viewed by an estimated billion people worldwide, making Burton the force behind the most visible wedding gown of the 21st century.
With its fitted bodice, long sleeves, lace overlay and dramatic skirt, that gown shaped wedding trends for years to follow. Whatever gown Swift eventually wears to her wedding (date TBC) seems likely to have a similar effect on the bridal market.
‘Givenchy will have a boom in ready-to-wear, Sarah Burton-era McQueen will boom for people who shop resale, and whatever silhouette Taylor wears will immediately be offered by all the high street-esque bridal brands,’ says Lizzie Wheeler, the vintage bridal expert and founder of Studio Dorothy. ‘I’m already getting sourcing requests for more Sarah Burton McQueen bridal looks, so this will cement her again as a bridal powerhouse.’
Swift’s choice of a wedding gown designer has been the subject of intense speculation since she and Kelce announced their engagement in August. Swifties (and those who cover her fashion choices) have pored over decades of Swift’s red-carpet looks in an attempt to divine some hint of what she might be thinking about The Dress. Will she go Old Hollywood, taking a page out of the Elizabeth Taylor lookbook? Could she throw back to a fairytale vision of romance from her early career? Might she invoke a more knowing, seductive, Showgirl brand of glam? Or will she take an Eras approach, changing into a series of dresses that express different aspects of her personality and discography?
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) and Taylor Swift walk off the field after the trophy ceremony following the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Women’s Wear Daily went so far as to ask a clutch of designers including Huishan Zhang and Alexis Mabille to sketch their suggestions for what the singer should wear. Given the value Swift places on secrecy, the only thing that exercise seemed to reveal is that none of the designers who participated have been anywhere near Swift’s gown.
For her part, Swift has said, ‘I actually never thought about what I would do or what I would want until I met the person.’ Still, there are standouts in the pack of potentials. Those include American style icon Ralph Lauren (she wore a Ralph Lauren dress in her engagement photos) and Oscar de la Renta.
The latter has been the house behind some of Swift’s most elaborate and well-received red-carpet looks. Creating Swift’s wedding gown would be a grand coda for outgoing co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia.
While many expect Swift to commission an American designer for her big day (Taylor and Travis being the USA’s closest thing to a royal couple), style insiders and royal watchers agree that Burton would be an apt choice.
‘Sarah Burton is an incredible designer who really knows how to work with a woman’s body to make her look and feel her best whilst incorporating clever historical couture details and techniques,’ says Telegraph Fashion Director Bethan Holt, who analysed the Princess of Wales’s style in 2021’s The Duchess of Cambridge: A Decade of Modern Royal Style. ‘Few know this better than the Princess of Wales, who took something of a risk opting for Burton to create her royal wedding gown, eschewing a more classic bridal designer.’
That gamble paid off for Catherine, whose gown was ‘a global hit – elegant and graceful without being boring,’ Holt adds.
‘Taylor does seem to have taken inspiration from the Princess in the past so it wouldn’t be surprising if she consulted Burton for her own gown, which will be as closely scrutinised as a royal commission. Now that Burton is at Givenchy, there will be an archive of designs for Audrey Hepburn to consult, too.’
An LBD for TS? You never know…
