Burberry Prorsum Adds a Touch of Irreverent Wit

When Christopher Bailey joined Burberry in 2001, he understood that the new trenches would need a bit of sauciness - and a lot of sex appeal.

That didn't mean throwing out the 145-year-old history. It meant taking it up a notch. And that's exactly what the chief creative director has done. 

The prescription? Courting celebs like Gywneth Paltrow. Launching racy campaigns with Emma Watson and Rosie Huntington-Whitely. And today - at the Spring 2013 show - making the collection "a bit more joyful, quite sassy and a bit sexy," Bailey told reporters backstage.

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With a star-studded front row including Sir Jonathan Ive, Andy Murray, and Harry Styles of One Direction, the energy was palpable.  

"It's about taking those kind of authentic signature DNA elements from what Burberry is about, our heritage and our history," Bailey explained. "But then making them, of the moment and kind of giving them a spirit."

Inspired by the work of fashion photographer Norman Parkinson from the '40s and '50s, Bailey created a madhatter mix of metallics, color blocking and candy-colored hues that was at once jarring and invigorating. There were a few moments where we caught glimpses of the staid fashion house. But those were few and far between. Most of the looks exhibited an in-your-face sexiness that was hard to shake.

The waist was key. Contrasting leather belts were tied instead of buckled. And pencil skirts were snug in the midsection.

The real accomplishment, though, was that the glitz didn't feel garish. It felt new.

A few years ago, Bailey told Details: "High fashion, whatever you want to call it, can sometimes feel untouchable and a bit austere and frightening and intimidating, and I wanted the opposite." Today, he got his wish.