Burberry Prorsum: More Subculture Chic
By Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Oct 2, 2002/ FWD/ --- Designer Chris Bailey has once again tapped into British
subcultures as inspiration for Burberry's ready-to-wear collection.
He presented his latest endeavors in one of the Italian city's most beautiful rooms,
the Sala delle Cartiatidi.
This tattered piece of Renaissance splendor, with its decimated statues and peeling frescoes,
was an apt setting for a collection that trawled the past, albeit one of a far more recent
vintage.
The audience settled, business began, and business is what Burberry is about.
President Rose Marie Bravo is a former president of Saks Fifth Avenue and the audience
was crammed full of buyers.
Accompanied by loud and memorable tracks by Squeeze and The Clash, Bailey presented a
collection with hints of posh punk, romantic explorers, Carnaby Street and military references.
There was much to admire, starting with the seersucker culottes paired with mess jackets;
cool, figure-hugging suits in perforated black cotton; and streamlined nylon pants in purple
and moss green.
Other great standouts were reprises from Bailey's men's collection: a trio of wonderful
explorer's jackets in battered beige cotton trimmed with suede, as well as a series of
shiny striped shirts, whose colors were featured on the show's invitation.
After several seasons spent largely avoiding Burberry's trademark plaid, in response to
the print's overexposure, Bailey sent out some new takes on this old friend.
There was a purple plaid used in a tunic and a multi-pocketed mini, and a little mess jacket
in a pale gray print finished the show.
Bailey also came up with some neat new bags, fisherman sacks in a new light gray version of
the house's trademark plaid.
These will find plenty of takers.
Yet, the show never quite soared.
The deafening soundtrack and blindingly bright lighting certainly didn't help matters, but
the lack of pizzazz and over-casualness of the collection were ultimately to blame.
With an economy on the skids and the world hurtling to war, faded splendor just seemed a
bit out of place.
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