London Fashion Week marks the Burberry rebranding with ex-Bottega Veneta designer in the lead. The Brits are coming to the rescue, this time dressed in faux fur
Daniel Lee for Burberry. Fall Winter 2023 Ready to Wear
This Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Burberry Collection marked the first show under Daniel Lee’s helm as Creative Director of the British label. The challenges were many, but once again, the British designer raised to the occasion demonstrating he understands the niche, all while being in touch with the reality of today’s fashions.
With a legacy traced back to 1856, Burberry has always tried to match revival attempts to its transpiring heritage, avoiding the sound of a conventionally traditional voice. «Change is inevitable» were the words printed on some soft punk T-Shirts in Lee’s collection, hinting towards the ugly ducklings eventually transforming into swans. «You know, it’s change for me, change for the brand, and change for the positive thing», the designer explained backstage, probably contemplating some of the irony in bringing new dimensions to a long-lasting brand. Earlier this year, we had a glimpse from Lee’s rebranding, followed by the images of six seals in the colors dominating the catwalk.
The trade-marked beige seemed almost forgotten, or maybe it only flourished into a vibrant yellow. Dark greens in the hues of sea moss entangled with royal purples and mauve tones. There were cherry and crimson reds, all colors taking over the infamous Burberry check print. Daniel Lee went for the reiteration of the emblematic motif instead of its renunciation- the strategy previously adopted by CEO Angela Ahrendts in 2006 to prevent the association of Burberry’s name with British hooligans.
The new Burberry logo
Logos define eras. If the 90s were much known for the logo mania, we drifted towards the sans-serif phase early in 2018, when almost every luxury brand redesigned its signature mark. Daniel Lee at Bottega Veneta turned back time and chose a hidden logo, something that defined the Italian label since its inception. With his arrival at the helm, customers identified Bottega items strictly by the Intrecciatura weaving and the recognizable green. He introduced other significant accessory designs, such as the Pouch clutch bag, the Cassette bag, and the Puddle boots. His focus was never on the logo.
With Burberry’s rebranding, it looks like Lee opted for a reversed strategy, embracing the 1901 label emblem of the equestrian knight carrying a shield and flag inscribed with the Latin word for ‘forward’. In the Fall 23 collection, we see jackets, oversized pleads, bags, and dresses carrying the new logo in a hyper-sized dimension.
Compared to Tisci’s 2018 rebrand, which followed the thread of monograms – a visual technique already used by other luxury houses like Dior, Louis Vuitton, or Gucci – Daniel Lee’s graphic logo adds more charisma to designs through detail. His brilliance lies in subtle but effective hints, concentrating on the color as something we can easily associate with a brand. For Bottega, it was a raw, almost electric green; for Burberry, Lee came up with a lavender-infused aquamarine blue.
British rebranding during London Fashion Week 2023
With the new logo becoming a crucial part of the British fashion empire’s new language, the designer chose to pair it with a people-driven campaign shoot by Tyrone Lebon. Fashion is almost absent, if not for the signature trench coats and a check-printed hat and scarf. British landmarks stay secondary to what transpires as the essence of the photographed personalities like Jun Ji-Hyun, John Glacier, Skepta, Lennon Gallagher, and Vanessa Redgrave.
Then, with a twist in the composition, we see red rose nails and white roses covering Shygirl, Liberty Ross, and Raheem Sterling’s faces. Each picture represents some of the brand’s new pillar messages and values- confident sensuality, unapologetic joy, and resilience. A romantic allure, never associated with Burberry before, takes the scene, with micro hearts bags and roses prints all over chiffon dresses and oversized red ensembles. The full-hearted fun and excitement come with little caricature pieces, the likes of an amusing duck-knitted hat, and absurdly big faux fur hats. We just know everyone will talk about the bedpan-shaped clutches, the materialization of a cozy Friday at home, in touch with the overall British weather. The target audience becomes clearer compared to Tisci’s un-precise imaginary.
Daniel Lee references games and history together, attempting to rescue the British youth from being associated with stern or chaotic looks. He pulsates life through his styling by diving into color mixtures adding a spin to tailoring elegance next to modern knitwear. We’ll surely remember the shoes – rubber boots in an equestrian style and cross-printed ankle hight winter bonkers. It also captures that weirdly old soul trapped in a young body affinity, where the pieces become easily accessible for people beyond their age. We witness the return of printed stockings, the low waste, from pants to knee-length skirts and faux fur, the latest being a tribute to Tisci’s direction when Burberry ceased to use real furs.
Daniel Lee’s rebrand after Riccardo Tisci’s in 2018
Italian designer Riccardo Tisci has been guiding the British label since 2018, the same year Daniel Lee started the revival of Bottega. In his first collection at the time, Tisci confessed to aiming to bridge all generations and bring more customers to Burberry.
«The mother and the daughter, the father, and the son. It’s like a patchwork or a mix of the British lifestyle», was how he described the debut Kingdom collection. If before his creative direction, Burberry was trend oriented with a focus on styling and silhouettes but little impact on accessories, during his reign, looks became more structured and interconnected. Riccardo Tisci’s Burberry was monochromatic, with soft beige and grey tones mixed with denim and a few bold drops of color, seeing electric blues and oranges as protagonists.
Old Burberry: a long-lasting luxury house with a rich history
The intention was clear enough – to draw a certain segment from each generation, a mother-daughter wardrobe similar to Chanel and Dior’s strategies. A healthy de-personalization leaving room for more experiments, his youthful flare sparked from the mixture between evening and daywear attuned with street style charisma. Bold writings and mismatched prints could easily be part of a gala. The coexistence between geometric shapes and nude colors remained uncanny, nevertheless. We can lightly-heartedly agree that Burberry has never been a hype brand gaining from social media culture. It managed to maintain its status as a long-lasting luxury house with a rich history in evolving outwears. It became clear Burberry needed to tap into that level of desirability that aligns with our viral culture, achieving an emblematic styling or item beside the trench coat and check print.
Daniel Lee previous experience at Maison Margiela, Balenciaga, and Donna Karan
After Pheobe Philo’s Cèline, customers discovered an unpredicted comfort in what in fashion we call minimal instead of simple and effective. Her design language created the ideal marriage between utility and silent luxury design, where sophistication is about effortlessness. Daniel Lee worked under the French house at the time, and with his previous experience at Maison Margiela, Nicolas Ghesquière’s Balenciaga, and Donna Karan, he patronized the same untangled aesthetic technique.
There are some things left to scrutinize, nevertheless. He couldn’t help but bring some of his signature colors to the British brand, like yellow and green. The overall post-collection sensation is more commercial than innovative, making it all the more visible that Burberry needed someone to increase its sales rather than retell the brand history. Only time will tell if the designs stay true to their legacy, but for now, there’s no sight of trench coats.
