Christopher Bailey's Final Collection For Burberry Was An Ode To The LGBTQ Community

Burberry February 2018 

His time at Burberry has been punctuated by highs and firsts. Bailey adopted the see-now-buy-now model several seasons ago. He was the first major fashion leader to fully embrace the Internet and social media: even showing certain pieces on Burberry’s digital platforms before his collections hit his runways. Bailey’s Burberry was inclusive and open. He bought the notion of British luxury center stage—not only with his clever, poetic clothes, but also by working with the most exciting young British talents for his campaigns.

Burberry February 2018 

The designer introduced a special Rainbow Check that infiltrated the February 2018 collection. What’s more, Burberry made major donations to three LGBTQ+ charities including the Albert Kennedy Trust, the Trevor Project, and IGLA. Model-of-the-moment, Adwoa Aboah opened the show wearing a huge shearling jumper over a white cotton floor-sweeping skirt splattered with painterly colours. The collection spoke to fashion’s undying nostalgia for normative street swear: orange velour tracksuits for both the genders, college-style sweatshirts, and check bondage trousers with buttery leather kilts. There were oversized raver parkas and fleece hoodies (compiled as real shearling fleece) worn over long, voluminous black tulle skirts. Puffa jackets and hi-top trainers came with rainbow stripes, and the famed trenchcoat and a blanket cape in a technicolour version of the distinctive Chav check. A brocade overcoat reminded me of some of his more quaint and dainty collections in pastel lace (his SS’14 womenswear collection for the brand, to be precise)—it felt like Bailey hadn’t missed the memo on the relaxed glamour currently conquering fashion. He also brought back the licensing part of Burberry’s ’80s past that the company had once tried to bury and celebrated it, re-releasing a capsule collection of jumpers, checked bucket hats, visors, and baseball caps. And when Cara Delevingne sashayed out at the end in a rainbow-striped, check-lined faux fur cape to the strains of Bronski Beat’s I Feel love, she brought an extra doze of energy so desperately needed in fashion (I certainly had Goosebumps!).

Burberry February 2018

The final collection that Christopher Bailey showcased for the British brand wasn’t dull or boring. The rule-breaking, of-the-moment clothes work well for the evolving sensibilities of our times. They were beautiful. But it was the colour that told the story. And, it was the colour that served as a reminder that one of fashion’s most powerful attributes is its ability to push us out of the gloom of black, grey, and tan—and into the light. Burberry, the giant of London, is capable of fireworks when it pleases. So was Bailey. With a small bow in the cavernous showspace, he took his final turn. Standing ovations are rare in fashion, but the room rose to its feet. They felt love. I was sobbing. You get the point.

 

Watch the full show here -