On the first day of the collections, Burch figured prominently in a New York Times piece exploring the underworld of knockoffs, in which she is a target. The reporter focused on a sequined tunic, but you can also see cut-rate versions of Burch's elasticized ballet flat topped with a golden disc all over town. Though she filed an infringement suit for the flats, she remarked with typical sangfroid days before the show, "I don't really care. There are always women who will want the real thing." Intellectual property laws aside, there's obviously some satisfaction in the ultimate flattery of a fake.
Burch has struck gold with a high-society formula that is surprisingly populist in its appeal, and she mined that vein diligently for Spring. "It's what I want to wear," is how she explained the American-in-Saint-Tropez grouping at her presentation at Christie's. The same could probably be said for the other two clusters of looks, one inspired by Palm Beach and the other by a lesser-known 1967 Audrey Hepburn film, Two for the Road.
For days at Pampelonne Beach, there was jaunty nautical fare, including a terrific boatneck sailor chemise with sequined stripes, and a chain-print maillot, evidence of her new emphasis on swim. The Hepburn movie inspired A-line dresses crusted with chunks of crystal. And for sunny southern Florida, it was linens with a gold trellis print and an easy palm-print gown with beaded straps. The quickly expanding company is placing more emphasis on accessories, and one of its two (yes, two) new Las Vegas boutiques is to be devoted entirely to them. Which of the runway's big straw bags, colorfully bold necklaces, gold cuffs, Grecian sandals, or spectator pumps will be pounced on next by the 8th Street copycats?
