Bailey, the Burberry king, bows out at top

Keira Knightley, Chelsea Clinton, Idris Elba, Sienna Miller, Matt Smith, Lily James, Kate Moss, together with a who’s who of the fashion industry, turned out for Christopher Bailey’s final show for Burberry yesterday in London and gave him a standing ovation.

Ball-gowns with hoodies, oversized, multi-layered silhouettes, floral, spots, hearts and graffiti prints, towelling, tulle and rubber – Burberry is on a roll, fresher than it has seemed for years, and with its totem garment, the trench stripped of all gimmicks, in all its gabardine glory.

Bailey looked his usual perky self, buoyed perhaps by the knowledge that the pressures of steering a juggernaut are about to be lifted. Bailey’s reign at Burberry lasted 17 years, during which time he quietly insinuated his personality (on the surface, charmingly diffident, but with reserves of Yorkshire resilience) into the fabric of the house, as surely as those checks worked their way across bags and linings.

“Doing a Burberry” became a template for other houses that were rich in heritage but low in current relevance, defying the then-prevalent industry belief that an upmarket mega-fashion brand couldn’t be based in London. Last year, in a turbulent market, Burberry generated £2.8billion.

When he transferred Burberry’s shows from Milan to London, attracting top-tier celebrities to the front row, Bailey elevated London Fashion Week into a top-tier event. He has no concrete plans regarding his next step, he says, which seems strange for someone with his track record. As for any successor – it’s one of the plum jobs in fashion.