Christopher Bailey's Motto: If it Ain't Broke Don't Fix It

 

Burberry Prorsum's Pre-Fall 09 collection looks a lot like spring 09, which looked a lot like fall 09, and so on. The formula: lots of gloomy shades, trenches and coats, flirty-skirted dresses, dark hats, and big statement necklaces worn over everything.

But it works. Christopher Bailey is keen to maintain the Burberry trench as the mainstay of the brand and every season he finds ways to reinvent it. How he's not mad from doing that for seven years is a mystery to me. When I was about 12 years old, I did a project on dinosaurs and I became so immersed in them for several days that I had those dreams that are like nightmares because they just loop and loop, and then I threw up. He must really love those coats.

Allow me to take this opportunity to air a beef I have with Burberry. I bought my daughter a Burberry winter coat in Turin, Italy last September. (Family takes care of the rest of her wardrobe when we visit so I take the opportunity to splash out on a special coat every year.) It was a white quilted style and the stitching started coming away in several spots immediately. Then a pocket got half ripped off from what was a relatively mild tugging. So, not being able to return to the shop where I bought it, I emailed Burberry and explained, provided the style number etc. and the other details that showed it was genuine, and didn't ask for anything except for a response. And nothing. I guess they have better things to do then worry about a children's coat. And who cares about that kind of small potatoes customer anyway, right? It's not like I'd bought a £6,000 trench that I planned to wear to a film premiere. So no big loss, then? The worst part was, a teacher at my daughter's school responded when I showed up and discovered the front pocket hanging off "You should buy her coats from Tesco. They're only £15 and they last for years." Oh, the sting. I couldn't even argue, I just shrugged and laughed.

I'm sour about it but Christopher Bailey's not to blame for Burberry's hideous customer service, so here are my favourites from the collection. Like Zhu Lin for Rachel Roy, British model Eden Clark presents the clothes in a way that stands out from many of the other off-runway shows. And those are some killer shoe boots.

 

Comments

[Kate]

wow that last dress is amazing!