Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Burberry offices in New York to preview their Pre-Spring 2012 collection. Let me tell you, it was a complete dream world. I started my journey at 4:30 this morning with the normal tasks to get ready so I could leave my house by 5:30 and reach my bus at 6:30. It was a little crazy and I found myself more and more nervous as time went on. But at 10:30AM, there I was, standing in the middle of one of the Burberry showrooms with Natalie, the director of public relations, Nate (please correct me if I didn’t remember your name correctly), and Katie, public relations coordinator. We all chatted for a bit about various things, me trying to not be as awkward as possible. But lets be honest, I was the only viewer in the showroom at that point. Saying I was a little nervous was an understatement.
I finally got around to looking at what they had put out. The detailing on this collection was incredible. And as Natalie and Katie pointed out, it was the first time in a very long time that Christopher Bailey used prints as heavily as he did. Katie also noted how happy she was that there were so many dresses, seeing that outerwear mostly dominates Burberry.
Lets get to some of the images, shall we?
The sets were put together so well. The colors all went together so effortlessly. Can you see the mixing of textures? Soft suede and leather? Raffia and beading? (Note Photo III, second garment: I finally got my hands on the most perfect dress I’ve ever seen. A white, long-sleeve, near-sheer dress with beaded shoulder detailing, front and back cutouts, a subtle waist and an exaggerated hemline. Dear Burberry, if you ever want to get rid of that dress - e-mail me.) (PS. Thanks Sara Zucker for that image!)
It was hard to get good photos of the dresses. But it was so exciting to see something new from the brand. All the dresses were sexy, in the most subtle ways. The beading and patterns added youth to what could have been seen as a “drab” garment. I didn’t take a photo but there were this set of dresses that all had slits all the way up the leg with shoulder and back cutouts. Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on one of those?
Sara Zucker posted a photo of this lovely bag. I didn’t expect all the accessories to be as great.. But lets be honest, who was I kidding? Those necklaces are so daring, I love it.
I saved the jackets for last. Seeing that outerwear is Burberry, it needed the last “hooray.” Again, with the mixing and detailing, I couldn’t get enough. I found myself uttering “gorgeous” more times than I ever had. The favorites for me were the cutout leather shouldering that was seen on the white dress that I had mentioned and the detachable raffia collar.
Oh! And when I saw this jacket, my inner tomboy-looking college student came out. I mostly took this photo because it reminded me of how much I love menswear influences in womenswear. Beautiful, beautiful work, Burberry. I applaud you.
Again, a huge thanks to Rich, Natalie, Nate, and Katie. The opportunity was one of a kind and nothing short of amazing.