By Peter Yeap
Christopher Bailey brings a sassiness and a sexiness design to the latest Burberry Prorsum Womenswear collection for the Spring/Summer 2014 season, enlisting once again British top models Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn to walk its runway in what has truly become the mainstay highlight of London Fashion Week.
In his 12th year at Burberry and coming to his 5th as Chief Creative Officer directing the quintessentially English brand, Bailey has successfully infused his youthful innovative design philosophy into the new collection entitled "English Rose," unveiled on 16 September.
The designer has given the Burberry woman a soft and feminine wardrobe of macramé lace, soft sculptural cashmere and raw silk with a color palette of rose pink, lavender, dusky mauve and pale yellow.
We wanted the collection to have this real crafted feeling, something that felt like you were cocooned and protected.
"Very, very feminine, very gentle, very soft, but there was also that sassiness and the sexiness underneath. I like that idea of strength and fragility," added Bailey.
Embracing the heritage of the house of Burberry has allowed Bailey to transform the brand into a highly successful business, making great strides and adapting to changing consumer trends, especially in the burgeoning luxury market in Asia.
Trench coats have always been integral to both the Burberry brand and to the directional attitude of Prorsum, and Bailey adds an extra dimension by reinventing this staple garment with crystal adornments in circular shapes, which falls in-step with the contemporary and the new, coming across both modern yet traditional.
The final look, worn by British supermodel Cara Delevingne was a transparent cape with a silver sparkle of tennis ball-sized studs.
The show was ended with the models walking under the rainfall of rose petals that tumbled romantically from the skies, creating a "soft, gentle and kind" mood with the collection, explained Bailey backstage.
In attendance at the fashion show held at Kesington Gardens were Naomie Harris, Sienna Miller, Paloma Faith, Suki Waterhouse, Gabrielle Wilde and Harry Styles of One Direction on its front row, as well as American Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Taiwanese celebrity Patty Hou and Jeon Do-Yeon of Korea also graced the occasion, along with American socialite Olivia Palermo.
For the first time, Burberry Beauty was introduced into the show segment, revealing the label's makeup looks for Spring/Summer 2014 along with the Burberry Nails collection that will both be launched in January 2014; now available for purchase on Burberry.com for the duration of two weeks.
The coverage of this edition of Burberry's fashion show upped the ante in terms of digital progressiveness, filmed and photographed with the recently-unveiled, yet-to-be-released iPhone 5S, utilizing its new iSight camera.
In all, 14 iPhone5S smartphones recorded and live-streamed the entire show to Burberry flagship stores in London, Milan, Paris and Bucharest, as well as social networking platforms like Facebook and Vine.
Amidst the falling petals of the finale, it looks like Burberry not only showcased designs for the next summer season, but pointed the way forward for how digital marketing should be done.
To Perfection.
See the complete runway looks
