colour me burberry

Yesterday we all went to the Burberry show in  Kensington Gardens, London. 

We took our places, front row between Alexa Chung and Ellie Goulding. We felt the thrilling tension as the lights dipped and the first note of the music dropped. We watched models strut down the catwalk, some stumbling slightly but recovering with amusing poise. We enjoyed the clothes, felt the atmosphere via the carefully selected songs, scribbled notes, clapped adoringly at the finale march and stood in awe, applauding christopher bailey as he appeared briefly to take a humble little bow.

The most satisfying part is that we did this all at home on the sofa with a cup of tea through our fingerprint-marked computer screens. 

Praise God for the immediacy of fashion (do you hear that Tom Ford?!!!). When i first read about Burberry pioneering a new movement of live-streaming, i brushed it off as a tacky gimmick that a stubborn nature would not permit me to enjoy. However, my unyeilding mind has relaxed slightly, is prepared to digress and will admit that the experience was somewhat pleasant, if not TOTALLY EXHILARATING!!! there is true undisturbed bliss in this kind of escapism


Now on to the clothes.....

Just a second before the spectacle commenced, Bailey created the illusion of a  temperamental storm brewing to set the tone. Then landed the cavalcade of a/w 2011 it-coats. Again it was a dynamic take on signature Burberry trenches but borrowed a recent seasonal fondness for colour and swung towards the 1960s with Jackie O inspired, enviable glamour. 

The thunderous elements and a sound-track of  heart break classics indicated a grief-stricken woman. She hid beneath a façade of tapered coats and a blockade of checks and tartans, void of emotion under a Cruella De Vill-esque flat-cap.  Her vulnerability was depicted through pure lucid whites with dashes of anger and pain formed through severe militant buckles and little black trimmings. For the finale, the heavens opened like the heart of our crestfallen damsel, yet the cycle continued as she built up a guard to shelter her, in the form of the transparent sculptural weather cape.

The collection was classic Burberry brilliance but played secondary to the experience. It is an iconic moment as we took a piece of history in one bewildered breath. Furthermore, it is a clever move for the brand; immediate, fast fashion is quickly gathering speed and, rather than impeding the trend, Burberry are embracing the haste to create a lasting relationship with the public. After all, the customer is always right.