Kann a hot-water bottle be fashionable? That question was answered with a resounding yes at Daniel Lee’s Burberry debut on Monday night during London Fashion Week.
The designer has risen from the back row of the studios to become the most influential fashion designer of his generation. Because he turned Bottega Veneta into a pioneering brand after the departure of the Pforzheim architect’s son Tomas Maier. His shows in Berlin’s Technoclub Berghain or in Motorstadt Detroit stood out due to his dedication to product design: his bags, shoes, sunglasses and finally the color green he advocated were bestsellers all over the world.
After his departure from the Italian luxury brand, there was much speculation as to where he would end up next. The English Burberry CEO Jonathan Akeroyd, who succeeded the Italian Marco Gobbetti, let the Italian designer Riccardo Tisci go and brought in the English working-class son Lee. So it’s British again at the best-known British fashion brand. Which brings us back to the hot water bottle.
Against cold weather: hot-water bottle as an accessory
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Image: AFP
Connection to the outdoor theme
In his first collection, Daniel Lee primarily restores the brand’s connection to the outdoor theme. That was lost in the years under Tisci and not successfully replaced by a gothic sexiness. Lee set up a large tent in Kennington Park, inspired by Burberry styles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to allude to protection from the elements – after all, the company’s raincoat in particular brings in almost £3bn in annual sales a.
Back to the rose: Lee’s first fashion show for Burberry
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Image: Reuters
So Lee had his first model emerge in an oversized trench coat with faux fur-trimmed lapels and a hot-water bottle clutched to his chest. That was style-defining for the show. Of course there were also tartan-inspired kilts over trousers, chunky Aran and Argyle sweaters and British motifs including the English Rose. Burberry used to distance itself from football and rugby because of the hooligans – Lee hand-drawn the English rugby team’s rose and printed it on its duffle coats and flight jackets with exaggerated silhouettes.
Checks and fur: Daniel Lee reinvents the Burberry look
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Image: AP
“It’s important to me that Burberry as a brand bridges the gap from football to the royal family,” said Daniel Lee backstage. Red and blue in the collection were borrowed from the royal colors. Lee seems to be going for the same brand recognition formula as Bottega Veneta with green, as now the old logo, which features a knight on horseback, is in royal blue, like the new emblem.
Tisci played with 60 different shades of beige in his debut. In general, the show was a clear demarcation from what Burberry was before. No hint of sex and desire that currently dominates the international catwalks, where you can see more skin and corsets than ever before.
Lee’s Burberry is an honest working class affair. Here it is all about functional clothing, which then becomes fashionable with changed proportions – with oversized coats, surprising prints such as small ducks on shirts and pants, and unusual materials such as dyed faux fur. British is back at Burberry.