Close Encounters Of The Burberry Kind

Psst... Don't tell HRH Christopher Bailey but his staffers are actually wearing Rupert Sanderson!

[Scene: Earlier at ION Orchard, Singapore] A slim, effortlessly chic lady boards the escalator ahead of me. Close-cropped brunette pixie hair. She adjusts her Burberry wraparound-studded watch and I glance to check her shoes (an annoying habit that I have). Lo and behold, finishing her all-black ensemble is a pair of black satin Rupert Sanderson Margaretha pumps! I'd know those cut-out details anywhere.

I decide to shamelessly enquire if they're Rupert Sanderson. She's pleasantly surprised: 'How did you know?!' I gesture meekly at my slightly battered, but thankfully recently buffed, patent pumps from the same eponymous label. She chuckles, amused maybe.

'My feet were killing me so I wore these... though I really should be wearing Burberry... I'm with Burberry (you see). Are YOU wearing Burberry this evening?'

'Sadly, not tonight.'

'Oh really? Your necklace is very Burberry.'

She fingers my black slashed leather necklace, apraising the cluster of fringed blooms like a seasoned merchandiser.

I sputter: 'It's Alldressedup and the store's upstairs. Anyway, I'm not invited.'

'What a pity... ah well.'

And with a grin, she rejoins HRH's court.

I might not have had the privilege of attending Burberry ION this evening, but for the smallest of moments, I felt like I did.