The classic Burberry check is back, after rising to the height of fashion, and then falling out of it, and now coming back in again.
The brand's chief creative officer Christopher Bailey revived the print, once famously and controversially associated with 'chav' culture, in his latest collection held in Old Sessions House last night.
And smartly so, capitalising on the buzz Gosha Rubchinskiy - streetwear king and critical darling - created around the plaid when he used it throughout his spring/summer '18 men's collection, done in collaboration with Bailey.
Read Next
It was, in short, a moment. And one from which a fruitful relationship was born.
Proof? Burberry's latest collection, which captured a young, distinctly British, and uncharacteristically urban brand of cool that looked fresh.
No doubt, that was the influence of Gosha who was in the room, and one of the contributors to the show's corresponding photo exhibition, 'Here We Are.'
The more grounded, less perfect and more youthful feeling was present in the clothes -- see the refreshing eccentricity in Bailey's mash-up of plastic rain jackets, fair isle knits, baseball hats and brooches, which were a world away from military-meets-boarding school sensibility of seasons past.
But it was also in the casting (ranging from Adwoa Aboah to Kaia Gerber), front row (Stormzy, Cleo Wade, Selah Marley and a fist-pumping Cara Delevingne), and soundtrack (vintage Pet Shop Boys.)
It was Bailey's strongest collection, and show, in recent memory. And it's all in stores now.
Kenya Hunt is the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK. Her career spans working for some of the world's most influential women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic from her post-graduate days as an Assistant Editor at the seminal magazine, Jane, to her time as Deputy Editor of Grazia UK and ELLE UK. As the founder of R.O.O.M. Mentoring, she advocates for greater diversity within the fashion industry by providing a supportive network for some of the many talented aspiring designers, journalists and image makers of colour London has to offer. In 2021, she was recognised by The British Fashion Council for her work and given a Global Leader Of Change Award at its annual Fashion Awards. An American based in London, she lives south of the river with her husband and two sons. Her critically-acclaimed book, Girl: Essays on Black Womanhood (HarperCollins/HQ), is out now.
