the best of london fashion week: Burberry Prorsum

Christopher Bailey and his team at Burberry utilized one of the newest tools in reaching a much larger audience that fits in their tents yesterday at the Burberry Prorsum Spring 2010 Ready to Wear show.

From Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, Burberry broadcasted the show live over the internet. I posted the link right before the show started, and was only able to watch about five minutes of the actual footage before class had to swoop in my ruin my life. Typical.

Many of fashion's finest, including current Burberry model Emma Watson [aka Hermoine, in the seriously bright gold dress],Victoria Beckham, and Mary-Kate Olsen sat front and center to watch the newest glam strut down the runway, according to style.com.

This young audience fit perfectly with the overall aesthetic of this season's Prorsum line: young, short, and loud. Military looks and glitter both made appearances, but the ideas mostly echoed around fresh takes on Burberry's iconic pieces.

What most impressed me was his use of drapery and intricate folding, which made old silhouettes look like a brand new idea. The fact that I would seriously drop my few paychecks on nearly every piece is a serious statement.

Chris, you're a genius.

Slideshow of the looks.

Favorite Look:

Throw the trench on top of the outfit, and I'm in heaven.




See that knot at the bottom? Iconic twist. Who knew.

Photos by Marcio Madeira via style.com

so, size 12 is unacceptable?

Obviously, this story is a little closer to my heart.

In a world that completely revolves around the superficial, it comes as no surprise that when someone tries to go against the stereotypical, size 2-perfect body-completely flawless, something dramatic must ensue.

This week at London Fashion Week, designer Mark Fast did just that.

In his Spring 2010 ready to wear show, he cast three models ranging from size 12 to 14 to walk down his runway in the new designs. But some people, apparently including some audience members and people working on Fast's team, were not so comfortable with the idea of--gasp--a non-size two girl taking part in the show.

According to an article from the BBC in London, Amanda May, Fast's managing director, walked out of the show completely because of the casting, citing that there were "creative differences with regards to the casting of those girls."

Also, according to Fashionista, another stylist backstage was so rude to the girls that she was asked to leave and not come back.

The beautiful model in the picture is Hayley Morley, one of the size 12 models that caused this alleged controversy last Sunday at Mark Fast's show. Personally, I'm a size 12 and I don't look nearly that good.

Now, that being said, I could turn this post into a rant about how superficial and ridiculous it is that a gorgeous girl that looks like that raises such hell. Or how ridiculously scared I am to attempt to enter such a world where extra pounds makes me an undesirable candidate for anything, despite my skills or personality. Or how I have always loved fashion and consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the subject, but could be written off at sheer glance due to the tiny number printed on the inside of my pants label.

But I won't. I will give my sheer amount of adoring praise to Hayley and the girls that had the courage to walk where most girls my size would not walk before. And challenge people to challenge their ideals and principles and superficiality.

Sorry for the serious rant. Yay fashion week. Boo bitchy people.

live from london fashion week!

In ten minutes, the Burberry Prorsum show will stream live online from London Fashion Week.

Feel free to watch, if you care.