LONDON (AP) -- The Burberry showcase is the highlight of any London Fashion Week, and with good reason. Guests and journalists alike can always expect an impressive production, a well-chosen live musician, a roster of international stars just jetting in for the show, a lineup of well-designed clothes and a bit of a twist.
At the fall-winter 2016 menswear presentation, the catwalk crisscrossed the venue in meandering paths that met at the music stand in the middle, where Benjamin Clementine played a sorrowful, heart-stopping live set.
“I wanted there to be more intimacy. There is something very artificial about a runway show and I wanted people to get closer to the clothes,” said Chief Creative and chief executive officer Christopher Bailey.
“I wanted the whole mood to be a little more gentle and a little bit more serene.”
But the ace in the sleeve was the inclusion in the model lineup of Chinese superstar Kris Wu, a former K-pop idol currently shooting Luc Besson‘s latest film.
Guest stars including Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen; musicians Mark Ronson, Tinie Tempah and Jack Garratt; Brooklyn Beckham; and South Korean actor Lee Jong-suk looked on as the models sported a deliberate luxe casual look through and through.
Bailey said the company tried to marry the sartorial with the functional in a bid to be more “honest about who we are as a company.”
