This being London fashion week's 25th anniversary and all, the British Fashion Council had high hopes for star wattage at the five-day festivities. Well, for the LFW finale, Burberry gave it to them—and then some. Whoever was running the storied British fashion house's VIP department was working overtime, filling the show's front row and after-party with an international who's who of stylish celebs: Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Victoria Beckham all turned up in their British best.

It was just a few blocks from the show to the party, held at Burberry's massive new headquarters on Horseferry Road in Westminster. (The place takes up thousands of square feet, almost an entire London city block, in fact.) "Oh, just another night at the office," the house's creative director, Christopher Bailey, sighed. He was standing in what is usually the lobby, except on this occasion it was a packed dance floor reeling to the tunes of DJs Alexa Chung and Agyness Deyn. The building's cafeteria, meanwhile, had been transformed into a concert venue for a performance by the Kooks.

Dry English humor was clearly the order of the night. There was Emma Watson, the star of Harry Potter and the label's current campaign girl. She was wearing a specially made dress with echoes of the just-debuted Spring collection and claiming that this was no different from her first few weeks of college at Brown University. "Yeah, this is just what it's like, same sort of people and same sort of venue," she smiled. Pointing at a pair of sky-high stilettos, she added: "And these are the perfect shoes for walking to class!"

— Derek Blasberg