The world has been ready to see what Daniel Lee would ship for his Burberry debut, which closed out London Style Week’s fall 2023 season this night. Lee, the previous Bottega Veneta artistic director who shot the Italian label to industrial success, prompted ripples of shock when he instantly left the model in 2021. He joined Burberry following Riccardo Tisci’s departure in September 2022—and rapidly piqued followers’ curiosity with an thrilling style of what was to return. For starters: a uncooked marketing campaign shot by Tyrone Lebon that includes Vanessa Redgrave, John Glacier, Shygirl, Lennon Gallagher, Liberty Ross, and Jun Ji-hyun, and a brand new emblem reinstating the equestrian knight first seen in 1901.
Lee definitively remodeled Bottega Veneta into an “It” model—and his debut for Burberry introduced the identical form of vitality. The present happened at St Agnes Place, a avenue in Kennington, South London; there, the designer offered an exploration of archival, blown-up checks, together with an ode to absolute, intrinsic Britishness. The verify motif was expanded by means of oversize checkered attire, loads of trench coats, suiting with a punk disposition, and head-to-toe prints on brilliant tights and big scarfs. Chubby furry collars (Burberry went fur-free in 2018), utility pockets on outerwear, and fuzzy trimmed luggage underscored the gathering.
However what made Lee’s first outing for the home really feel most fun was the nod to private fashion and individuality. The designer was wanting on the archives and all issues British for inspiration, however the coloration palette and styling spoke volumes a few new technology of individualists. Fashions had been piled with equipment that every felt private—and one way or the other, the actual gems didn’t get misplaced. Whereas clutching coats and holding onto their purse straps, they wore silver chains, big scarves, and messenger luggage with mismatched fake animal tails. The outsized messaging dominated in more-is-more in layers: huge trapper hats, yellow fur-trimmed coats, large pants, belts artfully thrown over coats, ear muffs with sun shades, and bathrobe-like blanket coats swallowed the fashions in a British magpie maximalist fantasy. The gathering was fluidly coed, and marketing campaign stars together with Redgrave and Ross sat entrance row on checkered blankets with scorching water bottles.
On this assortment, it was straightforward to identify odes to culturally related British references: chavs, punks, and even looking (à la a knitted duck-shaped hat and coats trimmed with unimaginable quantities of feathers). English roses adorned attire. Wellingtons peeked out from beneath bundles of cloth, a symphony of mismatched prints. The brand new tackle the Prorsum equestrian was printed onto capes—nevertheless it wasn’t only for emblem’s sake. You needed to look twice to note it.
Lee has a historical past of turning out covetable equipment and next-level outerwear. At Burberry, there have been objet d’artwork footwear that manifested as puffed sneakers and fluffed-up fuzzy heels, knitted water bottles covers (the subsequent “It” accent, we’re calling it now), and blanket coats for each cool child. Scarlet blended with deep navy, and the royal purples with daffodil yellows utilized to clothes had been extra like one thing we would see from Miuccia Prada pre-Raf Simons. Each piece right here performed with opposing coloration palettes and averted enjoying it protected—a transfer not like something we’ve seen from Burberry in years. And that’s a very good factor.
