New muse alert! Harry Potter star Emma Watson has shaken off her magical schoolgirl image to star in the latest Burberry campaign. There’s always a whiff of a new collaboration in the making when Britain’s young hot stars attend fashion parties thrown by influential brands; last year Watson made her party debut at the Burberry-hosted Vanity Fair exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, causing the fashion rumour mill to speculate on her links to the brand.

For the autumn/winter 09-10 collection the campaign features a sexy, smoky-eyed Watson in various outfits, most noticeably in a selection in Burberry coats, from an oversized blazer to the traditional Burberry trench. To seal the high-fashion glamour of the campaign, the pictures were shot by none other than Mario Testino on a London rooftop, with the backdrop of Westminster.

Of his brand’s latest campaign, creative director Christopher Bailey said: “I wanted the images to represent the both the rich history and the modernity of the Burberry brand whilst at the same time reflecting a quiet beauty.” He also had nothing but praise but his new young model; “Emma, like the images she fronts, has a classic beauty, a great character and a modern edge.”

The campaign also stars young men from the music, art and film world, but Watson stands out in the sea of male good-looks. The campaign will launch in the press in August, and we predict that Watson, as the new darling of Burberry, will be on the show’s front row come September.

Carli Humphries.