Simply Abu Dhabi XI

B urberry’s Chief Creative Director, Christopher Bailey is credited with transforming the company’s fortunes and in this latest collection it’s easy to see why. Once teetering dangerously close to becoming irredeemably associated with crass tartan baseball hats and market stalls, the 156-year old global British brand has turned its fortunes around to reassert the fashion house as a force to be reckoned with. As if to emphasise its influence, Sienna Miller and her fiancé Tom Sturridge – one of the hottest British couples – have been cast in the smouldering advertising campaign to support the season, shot by the one and only Mario Testino. Model of the moment Cara Delevigne strutted the catwalk for Burberry. At the London Fashion Week launch, the front row read like a who’s who of fashion. Victoria Beckham, Rita Ora, Kate Beckinsdale, Frieda Pinto and Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley. Burberry’s reassertion is also indicated by the trailblazing success that the brand has had with its social media strategy. Backstage images on Instagram, beauty looks on Pinterest, live transmissions on Facebook (to its record 15 million fans) and Twitter. No company does social media like Burberry. It’s a sign of the brand’s savvy as well as youthfulness. Autumn Winter 2013 is one of Bailey’s most youthful and cheery collections to date. Prorsum (as it’s called, taken from the company’s equestrian knight logo andmeaning ‘forwards’ in Latin) is filled with clashing animal prints (from giraffe to snake and leopard), dual-coloured trenches, heart prints, translucent rubber, slouchy handbags and – most strikingly – polished gold plating. It’s the accessory du jour. Forwards could scarcely be more accurate. With this season Burberry casts off any old slurs and adamantly stakes its ground at the forefront of the fashion pack. The catwalk launch saw classic camel trenches – which practically goes without saying as the company’s most iconic style legacy – quilted leathers, patent oxblood leather skirts, statement ponyskin shoes, riveted fringing, sharp boxy lines and seductive frosted rubber. Mischievous materials in cream, camel, deep red, gold and black interplay sexing up coats with latex inserts and skirts with lithe vinyl surfaces. Jewellery features highly and the new signature love heart has been transformed into patterns, embellishments, brooches and necklaces. Its appearance in flat silver form at the collarbone of one model dressed in a sinuous black column dress was fun, beautiful and is sure to be emulated around the world. If you detect a distinctly 60s flavour, you’re bang on. That’s because inspiration for this season came from Christine Keeler, a lady whose indiscretions with politicians and Russian spies in the swinging Sixties (the Profumo affair) nearly toppled the British government. She was prosecuted for prostitution and wrought disgrace that scandalised the then prudish British public. And that’s what you’ll see in the clothes. Classic tailoring juxtaposed with cheeky twists. Naughtiness swathed in British sensibilities. Formal trenchcoats and little else underneath. Bailey merges classic Sixties style – ribbed polonecks, clean pencil skirts, rich cashmere sweaters, neat collars, polite blouses and belted coats – with daring, suggestive twists. Latex trenchcoats, rubber skirts, animal prints and metal trims. It’s racy but classic; Burberry at its most daring. Kitten wedges embellished with gold buckles and ‘Crush’ bags, drawstring, held in the crook of the arm and frequently covered in fringed leather, were certainly inspired by the era. After more than ten years leading the Burberry charge, New Zealander Bailey has begun to mould the company’s heritage into something of his own, replete with proven couture experience (he previously headed up departments at Donna Karan and Gucci) native culture and tongue-in-cheek gambits. And it’s devilish, it’s gutsy, it’s polished and it’s luxurious. Bailey has brought out his A-game. 1 3 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I