Burberry’s heritage might be centuries old, but Christopher Bailey’s vision for the brand is relentlessly forward-thinking. Twenty-four hours before the lights went up on the Burberry Prorsum runway, a sneak peek of the collection was staged on Snapchat. Having recently announced a partnership with Apple Music, it seems the CEO and chief creative is forging ahead with other tech and sound alliances too, and attendees of today’s show were treated to a mini concert by Alison Moyet, a video of which will be launched exclusively with the music-sharing service.
Performing with a 32-piece orchestra, Moyet’s ethereal vocals set the darkly romantic tone of the show, and the first model was dressed in head-to-toe black—a thigh-grazing lace mini dress, classic trench coat, sporty rubber-soled sandals, and a nylon backpack. That mishmash of techy sportswear and delicate vintage-inspired evening wear was cut with militaristic details throughout: Peacoats came studded with brass, Sgt. Pepper–style regimental buttons, and slinky satin silk skirts were finished with metallic cording of the kind you might find on a soldier’s uniform. In fact, they were made by the same embroiderers that decorated the coats of the Queen’s Guard, just a stone’s throw away at Kensington Palace. Clearly homegrown production values are still on the agenda, and much of the lace was made in the U.K., too.
Bailey never fails to keep the bigger picture in mind, though, the idea of traditional seasons has essentially become obsolete: Showing those pretty ’40s-inspired slips with a cozy, sheared mink coat as well as light summer trench coats makes sense in a global market.
By managing to expand its audience through the use of popular social media, Burberry goes beyond the press and potential buyers to overall Burberry fans and those vaguely interested in learning about the nuances of the fashion world. Between Christopher Bailey, the current chief executive of the brand, to Ahrendts, his predecessor, it appears that Burberry will be soaring high for quite a while still, leaving its competition far behind.
