Christopher Bailey talks Burberry, chavs, checks and Tom Ford

Written by Dana Karlson
25.09.2009

Says it all, don’t  it?  I was lucky enough to get a ticket to The Sunday Times evening with Christopher Bailey, hosted by style writer, Colin McDowell.  Squeezed into a dark, unbelievably crowded room in the bottom of Selfridges, we (myself and a throng of eager listeners–mostly female) sat listening to Colin and Christopher (we’re on a first name basis now, naturally) run through the designer’s humble start in Yorkshire to his gradual rise up fashion’s Mt. Olympus.  I’m going to use chapters, well because it’s an organized approach, and also because last night felt sort of like story time with a super famous fashion designer.  So here it goes.

Chapter I: “This is Christopher by the way…”

Far from the flashing lights and pounding music of Burberry Prorsum’s impressive fashion show days ago, last night’s discussion was casual and relaxed, and made me want to have Christopher Bailey as my best friend/ big brother/1st cousin…you get the point. Turns out, that though he had always had an interest in craft and achitecture, he never really saw himself in the world of designerwear.  Things changed after Christopher started working in a wedding boutique, where he listened to what women really wanted in clothes.

Chapter II: Life in the Big Apple and beyond…

(This sounds supernatural, and I like it).  Bailey first headed to the States to work for Donna Karan.  “New York was everything I hoped it would be: tall buildings, steaming streets, and everyone walking around saying the F-word.”  Yup, sounds about right.  The fashion scene in NYC is a “slick operation,” and Bailey says it taught him how to develop a collection season after season.

On his departure to Gucci, the designer says Tom Ford “seduced” him into sharing his dream of rehabing the floundering Italian line.  With Ford, every day was different, and Bailey was told he could live wherever he pleased, though he admits he spent most of his three years in hotels, following Ford from city to city.

Chapter III: “Here’s the question you don’t want to answer” (Can’t stop McDowell)

Most things in Chrisopher Bailey’s life have seemed to unfold organically, including his arrival at Burberry.  Though he was initially wary of returning to England, he had a eureka moment, when he realized that Burberry was “like a beautiful diamond that had been forced into the ground, and just needed to be dusted off.”  And then McDowell hit him with a zinger: explain how you overcame Burberry’s past reputation of er, chavs and checks, and well, uhm, how do you cope?  Apparently no dramatic boardroom meltdown here, Bailey says he just stuck to his vision and the line’s heritage.  And there you have it.

For the fashiony details: Bailey doesn’t do themes, he starts each collection with a certain attitude in mind and builds up the colour palette, adding fabric to the mix.  He said the key is to remain “sensitive to the moment you’re living in.”

After the Q&A, I skipped the “invitation” to shop the AW09 collection on 4, and went to view the new spring stuff again, naturally.  Here are some faves just for you (and a little for me):