Video filmed and edited by Celia-Jane Ukwenya. Words by Elliott James Sainsbury.

Last season, Milan was freezing, the clothes were difficult and the world appeared, to all intents and purposes, to be facing economic apocalypse. The endless trudge of black coats and cropped trousers was enough to make anyone head for the hills to sit it all out. But these are clothes for the start of a new decade, and a buoyant sense of risk-taking appears to be on the rise. Optimism that’s no more evident than at Burberry Prorsum.

First up, punk. Soft bondage-cum-parachute straps adorned almost all the tops, which turned out to be knits. They flow and sway, echoing the straps of Burberry’s signature trenches. Backstage, Mark from the menswear team tells me that they’re inspired by 1977, the Sex Pistols and all that, shining light on an era of Brit history that Burberry hadn’t quite yet explored.

Secondly, workwear! Burberry should know all about that, and it does. Christopher Bailey’s picked up on Great British outdoors garb with short quilting, canvas backpacks and waxed-looking earthy cotton jackets.

Third point; it looks like a difficult collection from any still images, especially compared to last summer’s much fawned-over ‘Crumpled Classics’. But what photos can’t show you are the small details which made the whole thing take off. Like a suite of nylon, pastel-coloured jackets: extraordinarily well cut, ruched at the back seams to make them fit like a glove. Or the shirts, well-fitted about the shoulder but slouchy at the waist, with a dropped chest pocket. Elsewhere were surprises, like Burberry sport jackets, a red leather coat, zipped shoulders and a paint dab pattern. All giving the impression of a diverse wardrobe for living, rather than just a series of looks.

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