Burberry goes bohemian at glitzy London Fashion Week

For all the talented young designers making their names in London, the fashion industry turns to Burberry each season for glitz and glamour -- and the luxury label did not disappoint with its show Monday.

"I loved it. There's so many things I wanted to wear," US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal told creative director and chief executive Christopher Bailey as she worked her way through a crush of press and models backstage. British singer Paloma Faith added: "It was a really amazing show, it's beautiful."

Burberry's top-end Prorsum line is always a highlight of London Fashion Week, for the quality of clothes, the A-list crowd it draws and the sense of theatre. Installed at the front of the catwalk, British singer-songwriter Clare Maguire and her band provided a live soundtrack, while the show ended, as in previous years, with a shower of shimmering confetti.

This season the production staff joined in with the finale, dancing and singing on the sidelines as the models made their last journey down the catwalk. There were tasselled Burberry trench coats and ponchos, and dresses short and long with embroidered bodices and sheer skirts, worn with suede clutches and suede patchwork over-the-knee stiletto boots.

Throughout the collection Bailey used suede as well as quilting, sheer lace and circular mirrors sewn on the fabric, which was decorated with floral, paisley and patchwork prints, some of which resembled tapestries. "I wanted this whole patchwork of different textures, colours, prints, patterns and really this celebration of all these skills," Bailey told reporters after the show.

"I wanted it to feel more relaxed, more effortless. "We're living in this incredibly fast world, which I love, but it's also nice sometimes to pause and see things that are really made by hand." (AFP)