Simply Abu Dhabi XXVIII

BURBERRY Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer and President, transformed Britain’s largest luxury brand by sales, (annual revenues of $3.7 billion reported in March 2017), from a local heritage name to a global fashion giant. After 17 successful years with the company he will step down from the board in March 2018 and leave Burberry completely by December 2018. Before he leaves though he will continue to oversee the creation of engaging collections and the Fall/Winter 2017-18 collection is no exception. Dedicated to British identity, the show took place in the newly restored Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell, London, where Bailey organised a photography exposition entitled, “Here We Are” – a retrospective of 20th-century British photographers in which social heavyweights such as Dafydd Jones, Shirley Baker, Ken Russell, Alasdair McLellan and Gosha Rubchinskiy portrayed life in the UK in the 21st century. On the catwalk, men (and women) represented the features of the British culture: aristocracy meets the streets and craftsmanship meets modern techniques: these are the collection’s key points. This men’s fashion show was presented together with a women’s fashion show, as Burberry has been doing since 2015. The iconic Burberry trench and Burberry’s winter coats are there but in new and extravagant colours made in collaboration with Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy, who helped Christopher Bailey to develop the men’s collection. Classic was mixed with modern: the new world meets the old world. Textures, colours and silhouettes subverted and reinvented by Bailey are crucial for this collection that rethinks British essence in a fresh and modern way. Key colours of the show are pink, green, blue, black, camel, red and navy while the fabrics used are tartan and vintage check wool, Aran, Fair Isle and Argyle knits, plastic, Sketch-print cotton and natural shearling. For the accessories, extra-long chunky- knit scarves, the baseball cap in Vintage check and tartan, maxi shopping bags made of tartan and playful socks are definitely seasonal must-haves. 1 2 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I