MILAN, Feb 23, 2006/ FW/ --- The ending was dramatic with gold flakes falling like rain, all the models holding an umbrella and the background music playing the love song, ‘She maybe the face I can’t forget,’ the crooner’s voice mellow and poignant, echoing the audience’s sentiment that Christopher Bailey just previewed a very unforgettable collection.

Perhaps, the producer of the show knew that Stella Tennant will make one of her rare appearances on the runway since her retirement on the catwalk, or that Kate Moss will sit front row with Mario Testino, causing a photographer’s mayhem before the show; hence the choice of ‘She’ as the final song.

But, that would be reaching, because in all actuality, it is the collection that is truly unforgettable, eloquently beautiful and in more ways than one, moving the label forward as Bailey had done before in the fast.

The opening piece set the tone – Stella Tennant in a beige trench coat trimmed with fur on the cuff sleeves and on the hemline. Cinched with a wide belt at the waist, the silhouette is slim. It was very English, very Burberry and with the addition of fur, the connotation of the lap of luxury.

The multiple variants of the trench coats, capes and jackets defined the Burberry woman for Fall 2006. It came in its traditional fabric – beige, quilted, double breasted with 12 buttons and big pockets.

It was also proposed in the traditional Burberry plaid, sans the colors, with the markings as treatments, the lines a darker shade of beige.

It was mixed with fur, the animal skin added as an A-line skirt, and on the collar and the cuffs. It also came in patent leather, either in gold or in black. Traditional leather was treated, giving it a crinkly effect.

But, Bailey was not done yet. He sent oversized and extra-long parkas constructed to look like capes, resulting to a pear-shaped silhouette.

The pear shape was repeated in skirts in dresses, done by rolling the hemlines, while keeping the shape slim. The pear will be echoed in the ruffled layers of skirts and dresses. Done with lace and with gold lame, it was also a statement of opulence.

And then it rained gold flakes. They were still falling when Christopher Bailey took his bow. He received a standing ovation. If the audience can give him a gold medal, they would. After all, fashion week is the nearest equivalent of the industry for the Olympics.

Burberry

Burberry

Burberry

Burberry