Just forty-eight hours ago my phone was exploding with tweets about the Burberry show in London. Aside from the usual trappings of any good runway show this one had a few extras that kept people buzzing like mad. Waiting in line to see the show were A-listers Sarah Jessica Parker, Alexa Chung, Serena Williams and Cat Dealey. This year Christopher Bailey put on such a fab show that fans are still reeling. Burberry has been escalating the bounds of internet marketing recently and this show proves how amazing a little cyber ingenuity can be for an already coveted brand.
The show was screened and streamed live on Tuesday afternoon (including the surround-sound) in 25 stores worldwide. Customers were urged to browse the spring collection on iPads throughout the store, giving them the ability to buy selected outerwear, handbags and Burberry Beauty items off the runway using a custom-built app. Customer orders are then delivered directly to their door in seven weeks time. The firm’s chief executive officer, Angela Ahrendts, said this “retail theater” is at the heart of the brand’s growth strategy, and allows Burberry to connect with its consumers worldwide.
In a word – Amazing!!! The ultimate in instant gratification… hello! As for the collection itself, this one was all about a tighter, tougher edge with perhaps a bit of James Dean and a bit of biker babe combined. The models were coiffed in much the same cool and effortless way, hair was parted in the middle and smoothed in a “shake and go” post-riding look (without the stuck to your noggin helmut head that the rest of us would have I suppose) and the makeup was fresh and clean with a muted smoldering eye using items from the Burberry Beauty Collection.
There were classic zippered, padded and quilted biker jackets in everything from sparkling silver to bits of khaki mesh added in and even an eighties patent leather. Still apparent were classic signs of Burberrys signature trench buckles strewn about and even double breasted rows of buttons, there were even padded shoulders and biker jacket slash trench fusions for the ladies who lunch crowd….these ladies how ever probably don’t lift tea cups.
There were even some brightly colors pieces including little silk dresses in mint, daffodil and midnight blue and even a few electric shades of hot pink, electric green, purple and aqua. And let’s not even get into the bags and kick booty heels… I could go on forever, but will let the photos suffice!
All in all is was a dynamic show from start to finish, but I wasn’t so sure that Bailey didn’t overdo the spikes and studs a bit, and maybe even the python… but all in all it was nice to see a departure from the regular trenches!.
