1) Find your uniform
Forget the brand’s iconic trench – right now, Burberry is all about the military coat (the company has historic army ties dating back to the First World War). It's an item we’ve seen a lot of this season, and has become one of Christopher Bailey’s most recognisable pieces. For AW16, Bailey has created for the woman who is looking to update her arsenal, freshening it up with a vaguely retro aesthetic, pairing a navy pea coat with gold button detailing with a paisley shirt and burgundy kick flares, and a longer version with yellow piping over a groovy graphic dress and grunge boots.
2) Time waits for no one
The clothes have a late Sixties, early Seventies vibe, with a dash of Nineties grunge mixed in for good measure. The resulting dubsmash of decades made for a fun, boldly glamorous look, best exemplified by the marigold and teal checked trench coat paired with studded combat boots that closed the show. What made this so refreshing was that it broke free from Bailey's favoured aristo tropes and felt a bit cooler, wilder and more urban as a result. And the famous ladies sitting front row – Naomi Campbell, Alexa Chung, Tali Lennox and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – seemed to approve.
3) These boots were made for stomping
Grunge's renaissance (in tandem with the reemergence of punk and goth) makes for some excellent new-season footwear. Our favourite? The bejewelled functional shoe. Preen had the blinged-up Derby boot, McQueen had the crystal-encrusted creeper, and Burberry did combat boots tricked out in studs, flamboyant buckles and boldly coloured snakeskin. These are incredibly shoppable pieces that started trending on social media as soon as they strode down the runway. And, most importantly, they're available for purchase now. While you're shopping, good luck resisting the bags, which came in multicoloured snakeskins with thick guitar-strap-style handles.
4) The runway revolution has begun
Speaking of shopping, Burberry, long a leader in the see-now-buy-now movement, has made this collection available to buy in a selection of its stores and e-commerce, as well as on Apple TV. With men on the women's runway, and the merchandise now on sale, it is the biggest indicator yet of how fashion might look under 'the new order'. But this of course is a work in progress: from September, Burberry plans to move from four shows a year to two, creating a 'seasonless, immediate and personal' format for consumers. This is the future kids.
