Christopher Bailey introduced a melancholic muse to his spring/summer 2016 Burberry Prorsum runway.
By Christopher Prince
Christopher Bailey set about his new season foray in a white tent pitched into the landscape of Hyde Park at yesterday's Burberry Prorsum show. The interior was furnished in all-white, and staged on the house's signature marble flooring, cornered by a live orchestra. The starkness of the show space provided a much-needed pre-season palette cleanser as Bailey moved away from autumn's rich, Moroccan suede to propose something a little darker in nature.
Bailey's English rose found herself clad in black, and lots of it. The house's staple trenchcoat came in a new shrunken A-line iteration, and was garnished with gold button detailing, perfectly attuned to the uniform of a street-smart London girl. The black was a nod to grunge which was further perpetuated by a diverse model casting styled with undercut hairstyles and wildly textured manes with lips the shade of a black rose.
Gothicism and grunge was a significant trend last season, as was underwear as outerwear, which Bailey alluded to in traditional broderie anglaise dresses. He also looked to notions of thrift shop clothing, introducing undertones of flowy bridal silk satin maxi dresses that felt decidedly more vintage than throwback. And those personalised capes? Well, they were gone this season, instead replaced with low-hanging backpacks imprinted with models' initials.
^
Burberry may be a slow starter on the trends front, but the power pull of the brand, espeically in regions like China and the Middle East, ensured that yesterday's show would still serve those craving autumn's dark romance, and with it provide a fashion week moment for the season.
