The clothes, the celebrities, the atmosphere... how Burberry smashed the closing day of London Fashion Week
There have been unladylike scrums for quite a few of the shows at London Fashion Week, with handbags at dawn for tickets to the likes of Christopher Kane and new-kids-on-the-block Peter Pilotto, but nothing quite compared to the wheeler-dealer techniques employed by some to get into tonight's Burberry Prorsum show.
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In London for its second consecutive season, after a triumphant return last September, no one wanted to be caught out confessing to have missed this season's collection. Despite promising to stream the show live (in the end, so many logged on, it crashed the Burberry site), stars, fashion editors, A-list photographers and, essentially, anyone worth their fashionably low-sodium salt was determined to bag a seat even if that meant the indignity of foregoing the front row (celebrities including The City's Olivia Palermo, model Jaquette Wheeler and actress Tamsin Egerton were all relegated to the second row, although refreshingly didn't appear to mind one little bit).
Escorted out of the rain by Burberry-clad bouncers, carrying Burberry-check-lined umbrellas, it appeared designer Christopher Bailey had bad weather on his mind, with a soundtrack of falling rain accompanying the ascending buzz inside as Anna Wintour, Kristen Stewart, Kate Hudson, Mary-Kate Olsen, Claire Danes, Mario Testino, Philip Green, Carolina Herrera and those of us without our own security cartel found our seats.
And then the clothes, ah, the clothes. There's been plenty of shearling on offer over the weekend in London and indeed in New York last week, but nothing has come close in terms of sheer covetability to that which stalked the runway at Burberry today. Lining sumptuous bomber jackets and bucked-up boots, it was the luxurious cosy foil to the colourful lace dresses and ruched velvet skirts layered underneath.
In keeping with Burberry tradition, all the outerwear was of top-notch standard - expect to see the stunning riding jackets and zip-embellished coats all over the best-dressed pages come autumn.
When it comes to the red carpet, however, it'll be the thigh-high boots that garner the most limelight. Remember Stella McCartney's kinky boots - worn by everyone from Madonna to Victoria Beckham a few season's back - these are the 2010 version and Hollywood are going to snap 'em up.