Ducks and roses and all the details we loved from Lee’s colourful Burberry debut at London Fashion Week
The era of Burberry beige is over. Daniel Lee, previously the creative director of Bottega Veneta and now at the helm of Burberry, made that much clear at his first fashion show for the British brand at London Fashion Week.
Instead of a bland landscape, Lee’s debut was a riot of colour, something that hasn’t been seen on Burberry’s runway perhaps since its former designer Christopher Bailey dedicated his last collection to the LGBTQ+ community. Lee picked out yellows, reds, purples and Yves Klein blue, and gleefully paired them together. That was the first surprise.
The second surprise was that Lee’s Burberry looked nothing like Lee’s Bottega Veneta. At the latter, he applied everything he had learned as the right-hand man to Phoebe Philo at Céline; he refashioned the Italian luxury brand into a symbol of chic minimalism, offering up slinky dresses, relaxed tailoring and an array of striking bags and shoes as catnip to fashion influencers and celebrities.
Don't miss: Phoebe Philo is launching her new fashion brand in September
At Burberry, Lee is betting big on coats instead. He transformed the brand’s quintessential trench coat with faux fur lapels—practical and posh. There were cosy blanket coats that served as the canvas for Burberry’s Equestrian Knight logo, which Lee had recently revived through his first campaign for the brand.
Even more exciting were the gigantic duffle coats, adorned with Burberry checks that Lee had blown up. (It’s the same supersizing trick he had previously pulled with Bottega Veneta’s signature intrecciato weave.) Those checks also appeared on blazers, bomber jackets, tights, scarves, and styled with argyle knits like the sweater modelled by Iris Law.
