From The Trenches To Iconic High Fashion: Burberry Prorsum Always Keeps Us Guessing. [Tangent Magazine]

The tale of Burberry Prorsum is like no other – once designing practical pieces for British war officers to now revelling among the best of the best in the high fashion realm and paving the way in the online fashion revolution.

Once upon a time, very long ago, a modest endeavour by Thomas Burberry to design practical outerwear using quality fabrics and innovation quickly spread through England and beyond, becoming what we now know and love the world over as Burberry Prorsum.

Starting in a small shop in Hampshire, the Thomas Burberry & Sons label quickly collected an impressive and surprising client list.

British officers in World War One donned Burberry coats in the trenches and the first man to reach the South Pole was fully equipped by none other than Burberry Prorsum, which had by this time formally become known as Burberry with the Latin addition ‘Prorsum’ meaning forwards.

These are near impossible imaginings given the stature regarded for Burberry Prorsum designs now – to wear a Burberry trench coat in any kind of messy situation would today be considered nothing short of fashion sacrilege.

But it was not until Burberry Prorsum pieces were seen on the likes of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca that the label came to be appreciated as iconically fashionable.

And this appreciation and reverence has done nothing but grow since then.

The Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2011 collection adds yet another delectable and inspiring element to the extraordinary journey of this luxury fashion label, earning Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey, accolades in abundance.

As Chief Creative Officer, Bailey has successfully injected a fresh, modern twist into the traditional aesthetics of Burberry Prorsum, with the latest collection overwhelmingly epitomising this contemporary influence.

With the utmost sophistication, Bailey incorporates the traditional Burberry Prorsum style, including the beige check and trench coat that the brand is most famous for, while also managing to push the boundaries of the Burberry Prorsum imagination.

And you know Bailey must be fabulous when you see the guests that graced the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London to see the show: Sarah Jessica Parker, Alexa Chung, Serena Williams, Cat Deeley – need I say more?

And boy-oh-boy, weren’t these lucky Burberry Prorsum front-rowers given a show to remember.

On the runway, the Spring/Summer 2011 collection first brings to mind words like structured, polished, clean, wearable. And then, all of a sudden, we’re swept off our feet and taken to a place that is futuristic, full of grunge and balances perfectly soft and hard with delicious splashes of colour.

In the most daring step yet, Bailey has disrupted his muted palette with the insertion of lurid animal prints and tinted python – a completely unanticipated inclusion that brilliantly keeps his audience on their toes.

Where we had previously experienced touches of metallic or touches of animal print, we now see a whole Burberry Prorsum collection that is beautifully drenched in metallic fabrics, prints and intricate detailing.

For the Spring/Summer 2011 collection, Christopher Bailey has taken the conceptual construction and detailing of previous collections and pushed these ideas so much further, transforming them into something extraordinary and extraordinarily tempting.

Perhaps Bailey knew that each look that paraded down the runway would give the audience that gorgeous feeling in their stomach that they get when they see something they have to have.

Because, for the first time ever, the runway show was broadcast live from London directly into custom-designed, digitally charged Retail Theatres in 25 flagship Burberry stores worldwide as well as directly live streamed at Burberry.com.

But better yet, you could also purchase your favourite pieces of Burberry Prorsum treasure immediately.

Customers who were lucky enough to attend one of the live broadcasts from one of the 25 participating flagship Burberry stores across the globe were able to use a custom-built Burberry iPad application to purchase their must-haves straight away.

And, those who were not so lucky could instantly purchase via Burberry.com.

Burberry Prorsum exudes style and innovation and, for the Spring/Summer 2011 collection, the fashion house has almost outdone themselves allowing their customers a unique opportunity to view live and purchase immediately.

And to think – Burberry Prorsum, a label that is now at the very forefront of the fashion industry, started deep within the trenches.