Bailey claimed he wanted to communicate “a very British glamour.” For him, that appeared to reach its apex sometime in the 1940s. Here, there were tap shorts, peplums, wedge heels, slinky pencil skirts with kick pleats—and those capes and corsets, of course. That says something about where Burberry, whose history is so rooted in the practical, is headed—toward escapism. The new store is a giant techno-playground, and, as Bailey noted, the show today was about giving people a reason to watch. That’s entertainment. Now we have to wait and see if it also gave them a reason to wear.
