The scene outside the Burberry Prorsum show was perfect if you want to give the impression of media and celebrity frenzy — and you’re live streaming the whole thing on the Web. A crowd of people was held behind a police barricade on the opposite sidewalk, and guests waved their plastic entrance cards and then entered the darkened show space mobbed with people. More than once I found myself turning to apologize to someone’s giant handbag.
It was kind of fun, as these things go. The front row was loaded with Burberry-wearing celebrities — Cat Deeley, the socialite Poppy Delevigne, Alexa Chung, Sarah Jessica Parker, Serena Williams and Andy Murray. I had no idea who the young guys were at the end of the row, but they wouldn’t look out of a place in a Burberry ad.
The motorcycle leathers and trench coats with quilted leather sleeves told a pretty straightforward story, but this was not Christopher Bailey’s best collection. Indeed, the many leather jackets and coats — plain, studded and in gold snakeskin with stretch pants and skimpy dresses — seemed primed for Web sales; much of the collection was to be offered for immediate sale and delivered in about two months. Hence a style that was seasonless rather than overtly spring.
I also kept thinking that the collection lacked feeling — unless you count the pain of the models who cast off their raunchy heels on the runway. The last model toppled over a few yards from the backstage area and had to scramble back up. When I think of all the great collections that Mr. Bailey has done for Burberry, they’ve all been characterized by a sense of emotion that he was willing to put out there. It wasn’t all crass e-commerce.
It was kind of fun, as these things go. The front row was loaded with Burberry-wearing celebrities — Cat Deeley, the socialite Poppy Delevigne, Alexa Chung, Sarah Jessica Parker, Serena Williams and Andy Murray. I had no idea who the young guys were at the end of the row, but they wouldn’t look out of a place in a Burberry ad.The motorcycle leathers and trench coats with quilted leather sleeves told a pretty straightforward story, but this was not Christopher Bailey’s best collection. Indeed, the many leather jackets and coats — plain, studded and in gold snakeskin with stretch pants and skimpy dresses — seemed primed for Web sales; much of the collection was to be offered for immediate sale and delivered in about two months. Hence a style that was seasonless rather than overtly spring.
I also kept thinking that the collection lacked feeling — unless you count the pain of the models who cast off their raunchy heels on the runway. The last model toppled over a few yards from the backstage area and had to scramble back up. When I think of all the great collections that Mr. Bailey has done for Burberry, they’ve all been characterized by a sense of emotion that he was willing to put out there. It wasn’t all crass e-commerce.
