The previous one was mid-summer festivals and the British countryside. So this season Daniel Lee turns Burberry to the mid-winter nightlife and British capital. The brand defined in part by its Nova Check grid is charting a graphically direct new pattern of presentation at its shows.
Tonight’s latest was as slick as the latex ‘puddles’ on the runway. At the end of it, the lights on a scaffolding form of Tower Bridge shone more brilliantly than the actual lights on the original bridge, right in front of Burberry’s Old Billings Gate venue. Backstage afterwards, Daniel Lee reflected on his days here as a student, saying: “When I first moved to London I lived in Whitechapel. I often felt out of home, so it made me feel better when I walked down the river to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Because I was so excited to be here.”
Lee said the mission for the season was to create an ultra-Burberry wardrobe, one that could take you anywhere at night: “It could be a film premiere, or a charity gala; it could be a nightclub. You know, London offers such a breadth of nightlife, and that’s really what we wanted to celebrate.” Another point of celebration was the brand’s 170th anniversary, but it wasn’t laid on too thick.
Along with Nova Chek, Burberry is known for its trench coats. Lee provided a trench for many opportunities and clients. There were feminine trenches in ivory, midnight blue, and teal with gunmetal pleats bursting into ruffles. There were check trenches, leather trenches, a cool chunky shawl collar trench, crushed silk trenches, patchwork shaggy shearling trenches (great in oxblood), a classic formal white wool trench, and a charming black fur trench in a raincoat. There was a cropped quilted black leather trench and a black trench, also apparently leather, with a surface designed to replicate the patchwork map of London we were watching the show in, which Lee had found in the Burberry archives. Lee said the trench map was his personal favorite. Almost all of them tended towards a slightly larger cut with ’80s-style epaulettes that fell below the shoulder.
To resonate globally, Burberry has always presented a clean, refined vision of Britishness. But the collection also reliably hinted – albeit quite politely – at the authentically flirtatious and sleazy nature of London at night. Wearing black wool trousers peeking out from the back pocket of a hip flask, a black shearling bomber, a purple knit and nighttime sunglasses. The women’s outfit, which combined a bright roll-neck sweater, pantyhose and an off-the-shoulder leather jacket, could totally imagine falling out of the pub at closing time. A striking map-embroidered parka and matching trousers looked like the solution to jumping to the front of the club queue. An elegant peak collar gray mohair overcoat with a double-zipped leather hoodie covered with a blue check scarf (plus sunglasses) looked like the ideal ensemble for some wild nighttime cross-town missions. Another version of the ruffle-collared trench, this time cut in glossy black over black leather pants, suddenly looked more powerful than pretty.
The confidence of this look reflected Burberry’s broader direction of late. Lee is looking for a point and then getting straight to it, only turning to reveal the breadth of design expression and continuing my work within the core codes of the brand.
