New York Fashion Week: Belstaff spring/summer 2013 A new designer; a New York Fashion Week debut; biker jackets re-envisaged; watch out Burberry, says Luke Leitch. If you can transform one musty old British coat company into a billion dollar global fashion brand, then why not two? That is the thinking behind Belstaff - the 88-year old, founded-in-Staffordshire maker of bloky biker jackets - which presented its debut women's collection at New York Fashion Week today. To maximise Belstaff's chances of emulating Burberry's success, its new American owners have hired a former Burberry designer, named Martin Cooper. They've even given him the same portentous title - 'Chief Creative Officer' - as Burberry's head designer, Christopher Bailey. So could Belstaff be the new Burberry, and Cooper the new Bailey? IN PICTURES: 25 best street style looks Well, based on this collection, the answer is very possibly: Burberry should perhaps consider looking over its epauletted, trench-coat-clad shoulder. Again and again, Belstaff's classic waxed-cotton Speedmaster and Trialmaster biker jackets were remixed and incorporated into luxurious women's clothes - in precisely the same way that Burberry riffs on its trenches. The Speedmaster was turned into a soft, striped linen coat, and a sleeveless dress. The Trialmaster was turned into a cocktail-party jacquard jumpsuit and, then a shirtdress. Steve McQueen, a Belstaff-wearer, probably wouldn't have approved, but Cooper's remixes worked excellently. The signature diagonal breast patch pocket every biker will recognise was enlarged into a decorative motif on some luxurious, punched leather blousons and 'dispatch rider coats'. And as so often at Burberry, there was a hard jangle of metal as the models strode down the catwalk in their four-inch Picadilly shoes: D-rings clinked against python skin inlays on leather belts or on leather-piped tote bags, and one chain necklace looked hefty enough to serve as a bike-lock. IN PICTURES: Stars on the front row Motorcycling in a Belstaff wide-armed mini dress or khaki miniskirt-suit would be terribly impractical, but practicality really isn't the point of this new Belstaff. Cooper's brief - executed highly efficiently in this collection - is to reinterpret the company's utilitarian design classics into luxurious clothes and accessories that will sell in boutiques and department stores across the world. Joshua Schulman, president of Bergdorf Goodman, said after the show: "I think it works. And it was beautiful. Tommy Hilfiger, an old friend of Belstaff's owner Harry Slatkin, was on the front row too. He said: "I have been obsessed by Belstaff jackets for years. It's a fantastic brand. So watch out, Burberry - Belstaff is coming at you, full-throttle. More from New York Fashion Week