Burberry chooses its moment to shine

 
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18 September 2012

Metallic leather, shiny satin and foil-like fabrics in rainbow colours dazzled on the catwalk at Burberry Prorsum last night, reinforcing a trend that already saw sequins and space-age designs earlier in London Fashion Week.

Burberry, which typically puts on the most extravagant and celebrity-studded display during the LFW extravaganza, went, unsurprisingly, for flamboyant luxury for its latest spring collection. The catwalk was packed with iridescent swimsuits, metallic leather trench coats and satin corsets, and the palette was that of precious metals and gemstones: gold, silver, emerald, turquoise and ruby.

"I wanted to do a collection that makes people smile," chief creative officer Christopher Bailey said after the show. "I want it to be joyous, a bit sassier and sexier."

Bailey opened with a structured white silk cape draped over a rose gold bodysuit with fine ruching.

Coats - especially Burberry's signature trenches - featured prominently, but there was also a move toward capes and a puffy, button-less cocoon jacket shape.

Standout variations on the cape included one in silver leather, draped over an emerald shift dress, and another in clear orange plastic trimmed with python leather.

The repeated pairings of capes with corsets was inspired by early 1900s photos from the Burberry archive, Bailey said.

Meanwhile, the classic Burberry trench was reimagined in a luxurious gold lace, a hot pink-to-red ombre, and in the finale, a rainbow of metallic textured leather in shiny fuchsia, purple, cobalt and bronze.

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