Designer Christopher Bailey bows out after almost 17 years at the label’s helm
After almost 17 years, Christopher Bailey has taken his final bow at Burberry. A lot has changed in fashion since he first took the reins – and this season’s collection was a pretty good temperature reading of where we’re at today: lots of streetwear inspired pieces, a socially progressive message, and a decent dose of nostalgia thrown in. Here’s what went down.
IT TOOK PLACE IN A GIANT WAREHOUSE
Near West London’s sprawling super-mall, Westfield Shepherd’s Bush. The space, a colossal warehouse, was filled with spotlights on the end of metal rods which swung in circles and sent the light bouncing around the venue, as part of an installation by art collective United Visual Artists. The tone set by the music – Jimmy Somerville’s “Smalltown Boy”, perhaps a nod to Bailey’s humble Yorkshire roots – was unsurprisingly sombre; this was the end of an era, after all.
ADWOA ABOAH OPENED THE SHOW
Wearing a huge fuzzy pastel pink hoodie, covered in childlike colourful scrawls, and a floor-length skirt with rainbow stripes, model and activist (and Dazed cover girl) Adwoa opened the show.
THE COLLECTION WAS RAINBOW THEMED
We’d already seen the brand’s new rainbow check, devised as a pro-LGBTQ motif especially for the show, when it was revealed last week. It featured across caps, Harrington jackets, and plastic peaked visors, while the colours of the rainbow itself made up striped puffa jackets and gilets. By this point the soundtrack was beginning to lighten the mood as Bronski Beat and Marc Almond’s “I Feel Love” kicked in.
THE OLD LOGO WAS BACK
You know, the one with the horse which says Burberry’s. The old school font was embroidered on sweatshirts, t-shirts and hats as Bailey rifled through the brand’s extensive archives for his final show.
THERE WAS A RAINBOW LASER LIGHT SHOW
Right after Cara Delevingne (who else?) closed the show in a floor length rainbow cape lined with the brand's signature check. Lasers in every shade of the rainbow created a tent-like light structure which the models marched through for the finale. Bailey took his final bow to a standing ovation – waving at Anna Wintour and kissing his husband.
