Burberry matched London’s famously wet weather with a show that was all about winter life in the city, when the days are dark and umbrellas are a must-have accessory. Daniel Lee said his studio at Horseferry House in Westminster has windows and skylights and he can hear the patter of rain all day long.
How’s that for inspiration?
At Monday night’s show, the brand took things a step further in the vast space of Old Billingsgate market, recreating Lee’s vision of London in winter with a replica of Tower Bridge, the sturdy 19th century structure.
The Burberry bridge came complete with twinkling lights and overlooked a runway that was dotted with imitation black puddles, mimicking the real streets of London. Old Billingsgate overlooks the Thames, and has one of the city’s best views of the real Tower Bridge, which was lit with white lights against the night sky.
The show itself was certainly weather-appropriate. It has been raining in London nearly every day since the start of the year, and Lee’s collection could have easily worked as a see-now, buy-now offer.
Indeed, many of the guests — who included Skepta, Kate Moss, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, Erin O’Connor, South Korean boy band Stray Kids, and actors Noah and Jacobi Jupe — were wearing different iterations of the trench during the show.
For fall, Lee said he wanted to explore new trench territory and put a feminine spin on what started life as a World War I British military garment. Lee added dramatic ruffled collars to some trenches and sparkly fringe, like streaks of rain, to the hem of faux fur ones.
Those trenches had so many personalities. There were elongated knits with leather belts and epaulets, bouclé and leather styles, and ones with woven checks and fur collars. Lee said the one he’s eager to wear has a vintage map of London woven into the fabric.
The image on the map shows the Thames twisting through the streets of the City of London, and was also on the show invitation, on the silk scarves that guests received, and on the T-shirt Lee was wearing backstage. The designer said Burberry’s archivist showed it to him, and it captured his imagination.
When he wasn’t in the trenches, Lee was making other weather-worthy clothing. There were buttery leather pieces including kilts, bombers with slim tracksuit bottoms, and a lineup of sharp cloth coats with leather lapels or stand-up collars, which had a military edge.
It was a functional and ferociously focused collection, further proof that Lee and Burberry’s chief executive officer Josh Schulman are in lockstep when it comes to strategy.
Schulman’s mantra is that Burberry has the most opportunity where it has the most authenticity, which is why he’s been focusing on scarves, trenches and sturdy accessories such as riding boots. With sales and profits on the rise, and projected to improve in the brand’s 170th anniversary year, opportunity and authenticity have become words to live by.