London Fashion Week: Burberry shows FUNCTIONREGALIA for Spring 2016

Burberry showed a mixed of the functional and the edgy at London Fashion Week for Spring 2016.

Burberry showed off a mix of the classic and the funky at their recent Spring 2016 runway show at London Fashion Week. I always enjoy watching the Burberry shows every season as they promise beautiful clothing mixed with superb musical performances.  The Spring 2016 collection from Burberry, entitled  FUNCTIONREGALIA, was shown last Sunday at Kensington Gardens with musical accompaniment from Alison Moyet and a  32-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Duddell.  If you missed the show, you can see the reply online at the Burberry website.  The collection offered updates on the classic Burberry trench and cashmere capes.  There were military jackets. regimental coats, pea coats, duffle coats and capes with gold buttons and metallic cording showing off Burberry’s heritage as the maker of outerwear for the British army during World War One.  But those military looks were shown alongside baby doll dresses in tie-dye print nubuck and tie-dye print tulle and lace dresses.  There were even eyelet styled menswear shirts and  multi-print menswear jackets.  Overall, a beautiful collection with some interesting fashion forward updates from this iconic British brand.

Womenswear Looks from the Burberry Spring 2016 collection.

It will be interesting to see how Burberry fans respond to this collection. Select looks from Burberry’s Spring 2016 collection are already available until Oct. 5th on the Burberry website.  As always, the Burberry craftsmanship and fabrication in this collection are impeccable, but do consumers look to Burberry for a  waifish, unstructured white gown or mini dress, or a tie-dyed dress?   In my opinion, the lace dresses and regimental coats will be more marketable for the Burberry brand.

Images of the Burberry Spring 2016 collection from the brands’s Snapchat preview before the show.

Accessories in the collection included large over the shoulder bags including “The Rucksack” in gabardine-constructed nylon and “The Belt Bag” in both square and oblong shapes made of English suede, grainy leather, alligator and House check.  Shoes on the runway were  cut-out ankle boots and very comfortable looking low heeled strap sandals.

Always a leader in the use of social media to promote the Burberry brand, the build up to the runway show included a special Snapchat preview and a makeup tutorial of the runway looks from Sephora via Youtube. Burberry also partner with Apple Music prior to the show to develop a special Burberry channel to feature  emerging and established artists.  If you have a chance, do check out the new Burberry channel on Apple Music—there are some amazing selections.

Selected outerwear and bags from the collection can be purchased and personalized directly from Burberry until October 5 on Burberry.com.   To see Burberry offerings for the Fall 2015, check out the Burberry selection at Nordstrom.

If you have a chance, do watch the replay of the runway show and let me know your thoughts.   Burberry does a great job of continually renewing their trademark staple fashion pieces every season and adding things that are new to their portfolio.   They draw both from their archives and from new trends for every collection.