Zoe Saldana, Lily James Wear Burberry’s New Collection Before Its Runway Debut

While most major fashion houses have already debuted their fall ad campaigns — many of which can be found in the glossy September issues, currently on newsstands — Burberry fans have been kept patiently waiting, because of the brand’s decision to hold its first in-season, see-now, buy-now show, scheduled for Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. BST as part of London Fashion Week. Only not quite.

Perhaps taking a page from the entertainment business playbook, last week Burberry teased shoppers with a waist-up glimpse of its androgynous fall collection, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.

Over the weekend, the brand offered another sneak peek at the Victorian era-inspired collection, this time via Zoe Saldana. The actress stepped out in a velvet jacquard long-sleeve look while promoting Star Trek Beyond in Beijing, pairing the look with a nude pump and chic chignon.

 

A photo posted by Burberry (@burberry) on Aug 19, 2016 at 6:38am PDT

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And just today, the brand’s My Burberry fragrance ambassador, Lily James, was spotted in a black off-the-shoulder look — featuring the same sheer, geometric pattern as Saldana’s dress — while attending the My Burberry Black launch event in London. Like Saldana, James kept the ensemble fairly simple, adding only a pair of black pumps and a smoky eye. 

 

A photo posted by Burberry (@burberry) on Aug 22, 2016 at 11:59am PDT

The backwards, red carpet-before-runway strategy is an interesting one in context of the “see-now, buy-now” approach that Burberry, Tom Ford and Tommy Hilfiger will be trying out for the first time on the runways next month. The calendar shift is an attempt to woo consumers with in-season clothing available to buy at the same time it comes down the runways (instead of clothing shown four to six months ahead of landing in stores, a timetable traditionally dictated by long-lead media and retailers), and capitalize on interest generated by the runway shows on social media.

With almost a month left until its London Fashion Week show and fall collection on-sale date, Burberry still has plenty of time to pique the public’s interest by seeding a few more celeb sightings. 

Time will tell if other see-now, buy-now brands will follow suit by teasing their collections on the red carpet.