Burberry recently held one of London Fashion Week's closing shows, keeping attendees in town before hopping to Italy for Milan Fashion Week.
The brand's Chief Creative Officer, Daniel Lee, debuted his second show for Burberry this week. Lee leaned into the quiet luxury trend and away from the tawdry past of Burberry with his SS24 collection. Showcasing large metallic buckles, loafers, printed apparel, and chunky accessories. Vogue Business's Kati Chitrakorn cites the show's notes where the brand explained the vision for the collection as "an exploration of lightness, sensuality, beauty and elegance" and "a sense of outdoor living… [embracing] cliches of British fruits and English Meadows." [1] Hypebeast's Andrea Sacal notes, "Lee's second runway at the helm of the House was his largest yet, revealing new interlocked chainlink prints, refined house staples, and a new signature hue." [2]
I love the direction Lee is taking Burberry, staying true to its English roots and using English motifs while straying away from the "Chav" history of the brand. He is still incorporating the knight and horse logo but not making it the main attraction of a shirt, for example. I believe the subtle references to Burberry and England will make the brand very successful.
US-based Dana Telsey, the CEO and chief research officer of Telsey Advisory Group, says, "Burberry is embracing a new chapter of evolution under Lee's creative vision, refocused on its connection with British design, craft, and culture while amplifying the brand through enhanced marketing and communications." [1]
While Burberry is straying away from its trite past and reclaiming its luxury status, it is still honoring the working class that the brand has much to owe in its success. Its latest campaign, The Burberry Streets, will be in major cities across the globe, with a heavy presence in London on Bond Street and the London cafe of Norman's. Burberry teamed up with Norman's to decorate the cafe with its signature blue check and hired a Norman's food truck to travel around London during LFW.[1]
However, the campaign received criticism on social media for "romanticizing working-class culture." [1] Broke Magazine even got in on the judgment, saying in a video posted on social media, "a multi-million-pound brand acting poor for the aesthetic." [1] Others defended the brand, saying Burberry picked a "curated cafe" in Norman's rather than a more working-class level cafe.[1] Overall, the campaign's feedback has been positive, and Burberry remained quiet on the hate. Chitrakorn explained, "Either way — as many brands have come to find — to be divisive is to build loyalty, and Burberry's marketing stunt certainly drove conversation." [1]
I agree with Chitrakorn because, with the few criticisms Burberry Streets received, all press is good press…. right? I understand what the brand was trying to do: taking baby steps back to luxury status. I believe the cafe partnership was brilliant, and these kinds of partnerships separate a company from a brand, a lifestyle. Take Ralph Lauren and J. Crew, for example. I read "The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew" by Maggie Bullock this summer, and she went into detail about how J.Crew took branding to create a lifestyle brand and took inspiration from Ralph Lauren. For example, J. Crew's photoshoots were active - "for every shoot, there was a destination, and for every destination, there were activities: ice-skating in the Adirondacks. Beach picnicking in the Hamptons. Skiing in Deer Valley." [3] In addition, its catalogs allowed its readers to create a world for its models: "In the J. Crew Universe, a hot night was one spent playing board games in matching union suits-which made their whipped-up narratives all the more hilarious. When "J. Crew guy" hauled wood to the fire, his wooly sweater dusted with snow, [readers] speculated: whose heirloom quilt would he be climbing underneath tonight?" [4] Also, its stores were meant to reflect the branding. This creates an aspirational lifestyle that only comes with purchasing from the company. I believe this is what Burberry was trying to achieve.
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