Sarah Burton's McQueen family

Sarah Burton thinks of the Alexander McQueen team to be ''like a family'' and she feels ''privileged'' to be part of the brand.

Sarah Burton regards the Alexander McQueen team to be "like a family".

The designer - who was named as the label's creative director last year following the tragic suicide death of its founder Alexander McQueen - feels "privileged" to be part of the brand, and carry on the creator's passion in her day-to-day work.

She said: "Every day, I love what I do and I think it's a gift and privilege to love your job. The McQueen team is like family.

"We are so passionate about what we do and it's so important that we have established a couture-standard atelier in Britain."

Sarah - who created Duchess Catherine's wedding dress when she married Prince William in April - feels "very lucky" to have worked with Alexander for 13 years, and she was delighted more than half a million people attended the 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty' exhibition in New York earlier this year to celebrate his work.

She added to The Observer newspaper: "He was a visionary, an incredible man and I feel very lucky to be able to carry on his name - people have been incredibly supportive.

"The huge audience at the Metropolitan exhibition really did show how many people his work had touched, and from all walks of life."

Last month, the 37-year-old designer - who also created the figure-hugging white bridesmaid dress Catherine's sister Pippa Middleton wore for her sibling's nuptials - capped off her 2011 in style when she was named top designer at Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year awards.

She explained: "It's been an amazing year."