LONDON — Two weeks ahead of his runway debut for Burberry, Daniel Lee has dropped a hint about the direction he plans to take with the release of his first creative campaign for the brand.
Lee, who took up his role of chief creative officer last October after Riccardo Tisci staged his final show for the brand, has released a campaign with a spontaneous, informal mood and strong focus on Burberry’s British DNA.
The campaign is for Burberry rainwear and features already-existing product which was not designed by Lee.
It showcases homegrown talent including Vanessa Redgrave, Shygirl, Skepta and the English footballer Raheem Sterling. It is accompanied by a film with an original score by John Glacier, who also appears in the campaign.
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It’s set against the backdrop of Trafalgar Square, home of the National Gallery and Nelson’s Column, and Albert Bridge, named for Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert.
Lee has made another change. He’s updated the brand’s equestrian knight design, which was last used by Burberry’s former chief creative officer, and Lee’s friend, Christopher Bailey.
The original design, which shows a knight in Burberry livery galloping on a horse, was the winning entry of a public competition to deign a new logo around 1901.
The design features the Latin word “prorsum,” which means “forward,” and was used regularly by Bailey when he was in charge.
In addition, the chunky sharp-edged Burberry typeface, which had been redesigned by Peter Saville and Riccardo Tisci, has also been replaced by a slimmer, softer one, in electric blue. The updated design was inspired by lettering in the Burberry archive from the early 20th century.
Jonathan Akeroyd, Burberry’s CEO, had said during his first strategy presentation last November that the public would get a taste of Lee’s Burberry aesthetic in early 2023.
Lee is set to show his first collection on Feb. 20 during London Fashion Week.
During his November presentation, Akeroyd referred multiple times to Lee as a “rare talent with an excellent track record of creating bestsellers” in the category, and an “exciting designer with a very strong 360 vision.”
Going forward, he said the focus would be on “stronger leather goods icons” that have a longer life cycle on the shop floor.
Akeroyd has said he wants to double the leather goods business, one big reason why he hired Lee, the designer who reinvigorated Bottega Veneta with a string of Instagrammable bags, shoes and puffy leather creations.
As reported, Akeroyd wants Burberry to become a 5 billion pound luxury brand in the long term.
He said wants the brand to be “desirable and relatable,” with product sitting front and center, a renewed focus on “femininity” and on underdeveloped categories such as footwear.