The Mitford sisters meet glam rock at Burberry
BURBERRY, the leading British fashion house, unveiled its new collection yesterday, a collection which will start to appear in stores from June.
The front row was the usual starry affair, with Naomi Campbell, Alexa Chung, Lily Donaldson, Rosie Huntingdon Whitely and Nicholas Hoult watching a show featuring a performance from singer Jake Bugg.
Burberry, with Christopher Bailey at the helm, is leading the charge for innovation at a time of flux in the industry. From September it will move to a direct-to-consumer model, with the collection shown at the next London Fashion Week available immediately after the show. It will meld men’s and womenswear into one collection and is cutting its fashion shows from four a year to two.
For yesterday’s “Burberry Womenswear February 2016 Show”, steps were taken in this direction: customers will be able to pre-order selected pieces online, and the collection will be on display in the Regent Street flagship store for a week before moving to Paris.
In an intimate lounge setting, with guests on green velvet cushioned benches, Bailey sent out his ( going into) winter proposition, which he said was “not a themed show, but all the things that I love. It’s a patchwork of different things – from the Mitford sisters to military to glam rock.” There were navy military style cashmere overcoats with sharp parade-red piping, multi-coloured sequin and brocade mini dresses with patterned tights and satisfyingly chunky buckled biker boots, inset. There were midi-length glittery tea dresses, sequin florals on caped silk blouses, khaki parkas with fur collars and oversize brushed plaid mohair coats worn over those glamrock spangly frocks.
The signature trench coat came in coloured python as well as shiny patent black, while puffa jackets were kept trim with belted waists and sheepskin collars. For critics who wonder if customers from Berlin to Beijing will be happy to buy the exact same fashion item, Bailey points out that the patchwork-printed python handbags, tiny in body and chunky of strap, are “unique”.
“The patchwork of materials and colours will be different in each version. Each will have a gold card inside, and will have its own name as well,” he said.
There may have been no singular theme, but the overriding impression was one of covetable, wearable, beautiful fashion.