Burberry To Hold Next Catwalk Show In London

By Margarita Nahapetyan

Burberry, one of the world's most influential luxury fashion labels, best known for quintessential British values and macs, has announced this week that it will be holding its next catwalk show at the London Fashion Week as opposed to its usual home in Milan.

After eight years showing in Italy, Burberry will be presenting the Spring/Summer 2010 collections at London Fashion Week from September 18th to 22nd, at its new cultural home Somerset House, an 8-storey tribute to the brand, designed entirely by Burberry's Creative Director Christopher Bailey. "Right now, we want to show in London, the time is right. We want to put some of that London energy back into the show," said Bailey, adding that as London celebrates 25 years of both London Fashion Week and the British Fashion Council, they have decided to present the next collection in the British capital. "London is our home - it is the heart of this global luxury brand and the center of all our creativity," the designer said.

While foreign press and consumers have for many years now switched in favor of New York, Milan and Paris, London traditionally had to work very hard in order to attract an international attention, with some big names preferring to avoid the capital's fashion week entirely. Burberry's image as a 153-year-old "heritage" brand is an integral part of its appeal, but 2 years ago that image went through really hard times when many celebrities started a high profile campaign when the company decided to transfer the production from its factory in Wales to China. Bringing its new collections to London and presenting them at capital's Fashion Week should neutralize any prolonged bad publicity caused by the closure.

Having Burberry on the London schedule is also supposed to add more weight to what is already set to be a powerful week full of excitement. In addition, confirmed as part of the big event are designers Luella Bartley, Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Jaeger, Nicole Farhi, and Giles Deacon. Two years ago, Luella Bartley brought her collection back to London, where it has remained since that time. As to Matthew Williamson, he just returned for one season, and famous Vivienne Westwood has been presenting her Red line in London, after returning from Paris, since February 2008.

At a time when the financial crisis means that many smaller brands will be doing their best to survive, the organizers of the London event hope that by coming back, "homegrown names" will attract the public interest and help boost the reputation of London Fashion Week itself. Last year, its position within the fashion show calendar was jeopardized by New York's plans to have a runway show on London's dates, before a last-minute compromise was agreed. However, it must be said that the move is also likely to benefit Burberry, even if they come to London just for one season. The experts say that presenting in London will guarantee the brand more publicity than it would receive in Italy, despite the greater prestige of Milan.

Any fashionistas who expect the dominance of checked scarves and trench coats during the showing, will be left disappointed. While the classic Burberry house check may still be selling well among the city's tourists, Burberry's catwalk collections are strongly focused on the sort of deluxe items that are a main part of any working woman's wardrobe.

There have been lots of rumors in the past few months that several major brands will be coming back to London in time for the city's 25th anniversary celebrations. With Burberry leading the way, everyone is eager to find out what other internationally-based British labels will return to Londonn in September.