Burberry may finally be back to doing what it’s always done best – terrific outerwear
It’s barely been two years since Daniel Lee was hailed as the holy saviour of Burberry. A year since his first show; six months since his first collection hit the shop floor. Yet already there are pesky rumours of his imminent departure reverberating around the industry.
True, Burberry’s most recent financial figures make for sobering reading. In January, this very British house kicked off its 168th year with a very British problem: the unhelpful announcement that it was lowering its profit forecast for the year from ￡668 million to between ￡410 million and ￡460 million. Its stock subsequently fell by a worrying 15 per cent, the steepest decline in more than a decade, making Burberry one of the worst performers among the FTSE’s biggest players.
But the fashion show must go on and if there were BAFTAs doled out for PR, Burberry would have a clutch of them. Its recent takeover of both Harrods and Bond Street Tube Station, not to mention the brand’s cosying up to everyone from Dame Mary Berry to rapper Skepta, have made it hard to escape.
The big celebrity front row has long been a feature of Burberry shows. It was so dark inside this Disney version of a jousting tent (pitched in east London’s Victoria Park) that it took a while to make out Olivia Colman, Samantha Morton, Dame Joanna Lumley, Dizzee Rascal, Patsy Kensit, Lily Allen, Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan (who’s rapidly becoming a Burberry mascot).
There were also a bunch of names even Burberry’s UK PRs hadn’t heard of, but who doubtless have hundreds of millions of followers on TikTok. A couple of Gallagher offspring lolloped down the catwalk. Lily Cole put in an appearance. Naomi Campbell strutted. All it needed was a royal and someone from the Lionesses and it would have been a full house.
This is important. Celebrities can sell product, but only if there is product to sell.
If Lee is leaving the Burberry building imminently, it seems a bit hasty. Ok, the first few collections didn’t make for an instant moon landing. But this one came a lot closer. Put simply, instead of trying to be edgy or cool, Lee focussed on what Burberry has, at its peak, always been about: terrific outerwear, some with detachable double layers, or shaggy fake fur or sheepskin, others with fringed blanket liners. Some were beautifully cut, classic double or single breasted, oversized camel coats and non tricksy trenches.
There was a lot here to put on your wish list. Good too, were the knitted cardis and matching dresses, maxi kilts, heeled brogues and the slouchy shoulder bags to which Lee has added external pockets and extra oomph.
Properly edited and merchandised, why wouldn’t it sell? Why would Burberry and Lee part ways after this? What will Barry Keoghan wear next? Is Patsy Kensit about to star in the West End? The plot thickens. Nobody can say Burberry doesn’t deliver suspense.
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