His last collection for the British luxury label was a rainbow laser celebration

Many things can happen in 17 years &mdash; just ask Christopher Bailey. The 47-year old designer just took his final bow as chief creative officer of British heritage brand Burberry, after&nbsp;a long and&nbsp;rewarding time at the house.&nbsp;

Early on, Bailey made his mark among a sea of fashion eccentrics by embracing the ever-changing digital landscape. Like the late David Bowie once said, &quot;Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.&quot; Christopher Bailey has always been one of those people. He was one of the first designers to champion live-streaming of&nbsp;fashion shows and became a pioneer of creating digital partnerships with numerous social media platforms. It was a genius recontextualization of fashion then, made easy and accessible for the rising influencer/blogger crowd of now.

So when it was announced that Bailey would be making his exit from Burberry a long 17 years later, questions naturally arose:&nbsp;What will he do?&nbsp;

These questions were put to rest on Monday, February 12, in an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BfGZdGjAYS4/?hl=en&amp;taken-by=burberry">Instagram post</a> on Burberry&#39;s account: an image of the brand&#39;s signature (and iconic) check layered under a rainbow. This wasn&#39;t exclusively an aesthetic choice, but rather a philanthropic one. Burberry announced that they would be donating and supporting three LGBTQIA+ charities: Albert Kennedy Trust, ILGA World, and The Trevor Project.&nbsp;

&quot;My final collection here at Burberry is dedicated to and in support of some of the best and brightest organisations supporting LGBTQ+ youth around the world,&quot; Bailey&#39;s statement followed. &quot;There has never been a more important time to say that in our diversity lies our strength and our creativity.&quot; Evidently, Fall 2018 would serve as Bailey&#39;s own&nbsp;love letter to the community he himself is a part of. A most fitting choice, indeed.

From start to finish, the show packed a highly visceral punch. There were pieces inspired by the Burberry archives of the &#39;60s, &#39;70s, and &#39;80s and plenty of colors in the form of rainbow flourishes on capes, coats, and sweaters. For the finale, a stunning laser light show illuminated the runway, a collaboration between Burberry and United Visual Artists. It was fantasy meets reality, flamboyance meets subtlety &mdash; an accurate reflection of all the beauty and intricacies that entail those who identify as LGBTQ+ Bailey promised us a celebration and that&#39;s exactly what we got.&nbsp;

Christopher Bailey Tributes LGBT Youth for Final Burberry Show

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