London | Burberry returns to physical fashion shows

(London) “Back to reality, back to emotions”: Burberry returned to physical shows on Friday in London for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the Italian Riccardo Tisci celebrating there, outside of Fashion Week, his vision of British identity.

Taking possession of the imposing Central Hall of Westminster, a former church located in the heart of the British capital, the models of the brand with the famous checkered print paraded to the rhythm of the contemporary London orchestra, which played on site accompanied by a hundred singers.

For this parade, Burberry had decided on its own calendar, ignoring London Fashion Week (February 18/22) where the brand is generally one of the most anticipated.

“I think we have to parade when we’re ready,” the brand’s artistic director, Riccardo Tisci, told reporters. However, the Italian designer “has had COVID-19 three, four times” and Burberry “has had big changes this season, between the departure of Marco (Gobbetti, ex-general manager), the arrival of Jonathan (Akeroyd) , the many cases of COVID-19. »

After two years without an audience, this one was almost part of the parade. Standing, the approximately 300 guests initially remained in darkness before seeing the models descend the stairs of the old church and weave their way through the crowd, climbing up and down on tables that had been laid out – with plates and cutlery — among the guests.

“It was important for me to explore what it means to belong, how our roots shape who we are, and how the power of community and the feeling of being together is really what makes the world meaningful,” said explained Riccardo Tisci after the parade.

British identity

Pandemic obliges, Burberry had not organized parades with public for two years.

And even if the brand had reinvented the meeting by adapting to the health context, organizing for example in 2020 a parade in the middle of the forest broadcast live on the Twitch platform, “it feels good” to return to a more classic presentation. , assures Riccardo Tisci.

Many celebrities had responded present. Among them, the model Kate Moss, longtime muse of the brand, but also Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, or the American actor Adam Driver.

For his fall/winter 2022 collection, the Italian, who arrived at Burberry in 2018 after years at Givenchy, revisited the classics of the house founded in 1856. The essential trench coat, the brand’s iconic piece, has been embellished with chains , worn as a dress or even printed with trompe-l’oeil patterns.

The opportunity for him to celebrate “the intangible essence of British identity”, in a country “where you have skinheads, you have punks and a history of breaking codes, but at the same time you have the reality of the elegance of the English aristocracy”.

Upon his arrival, the Italian’s mission was to breathe new life into the brand and bring it closer to “millennials”. Burberry has also launched this week a collaboration with the New York clothing label streetwear Supreme, prompting hundreds of young people to rush to the doors of the London brand on Thursday.

The parade took place a few weeks before the Briton Jonathan Akeroyd, former general manager of Versace, took the reins of the British group. Last June, the announcement of the departure of Marco Gobbetti had worried investors.

But the luxury group published in January sales up 5% year on year for the three months ending at Christmas as well as encouraging earnings forecasts.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British group suspended deliveries to Russia, citing “operational difficulties”.

If Russia may appear to be a land of choice for luxury, it would actually represent only a small part of their turnover: barely 1% according to Kering or Burberry, 2% according to LVMH.