A women steps onto the runway in a white cap. The music begins. Soon, the covering falls away from the glass panes above the show space. The light streams in from London's Kensington Gardens illuminating the runway and the show space. White coats and capes are quickly followed by colorful dresses with corset seams and ruching. That was the Burberry show at London Fashion Week last week. For the last few years, I've shown the show on my blog The Recessionista via livestream. This year I was fortunate enough to actually attend the show live in Kensington Gardens. The Burberry runway show was an amazing production, choreographed as well as, if not better than, a classic Hollywood production. The show was notable not just for its production quality, but for the beauty of the clothes. I was privileged to see the clothes up close at the Burberry showroom after the runway show. I've never seen such exquisite garments. There was a dress made of real peacock feathers plus flashy raincoats in a rainbow of color and metallic threaded dresses and ruched coats. There were corseted strapless tops with peplum trim, paired with glittering pencil skirts. They looked even better up close than they did on the runway.
The Burberry Spring/Summer collection is full of bright, splashy colors for Spring fit for a rock star or the celebrity red carpet. There were the usual classic Burberry coats in white and neutral colors, but there were also lipstick reds, pinks, fuchsia, green and turquoise. The bright color palette was a stark contrast to the more subdued greys, yellows and black many designers showed at New York Fashion Week for Spring 2013. The fabrics were as rich and vibrant as the colors. Metallic silk used to make those amazing ruched dresses. Metallic leather, sateen and lace were also generously used in this collection. The accessories complimented the lush looks of the garments. In the show finale, the models walked with colorful plastic Burberry "blaze" bags that put memories of the faux Hermes jelly bags to shame. Shoes were 1940s vintage style metallic peep toe wedges and pointed toe wedges with ankle straps. The striking fashions were complimented by an equally stunning show soundtrack. Burberry's Christopher Bailey has thoughtfully incorporated music into the brand's marketing strategy and social sharing to great effect. This show featured a playlist of emerging British artists that every viewer probably added to their iPhone/iPod immediately after the show (I know I did!) The musical selections were:
- Another Love - Tom Odell
- People Help The People - Birdy
- Open Up Your Arms - Ren Harvieu
- Walk On - Ren Harvieu