British Extravaganza: Burberry Autumn-Winter 2024

For his third collection for Burberry, Daniel Lee continued to explore the quintessential British codes and taupes. 

For next autumn, Daniel Lee prepared for us a wardrobe of cozy knits with fringes, long almost touching the floor leather, kilt and pleated skirts (with checked insides, of course), matched with coolest V-neck sweaters. A great styling trick, some of Lee’s models were wearing checked scarves on their heads, and did look like British football fans. Later, backstage Lee said that it’s also a nod to the late Queen Elisabeth II, who famously loved covering her hair with a scarf, when taking a walk with her corgis in her favourite Balmoral Castle in Scotland. 

Another British icon was on the soundtrack: Daniel Lee chose his favorite hits from Amy Winehouse (think, “You Know I'm No Good”, “Back to Black” and “Half Time”). His cast was quintessentially British, as well. Veteran model Agyness Deyn opened the show in a gray wool trench, followed by Lily Cole (her look with the red scarf and cuissard high boots was a show-stopper), Lily Donaldson, Karen Elson and Naomi Campbell, who gorgeously marched in a sparkling crochet evening gown in the hue of moss that would cost a fortune. What other surprises did Daniel Lee have in stock for us? No one could have expected that Maya Wigram, Phoebe Philo’s daughter, would close the show in a leather jacket and a kilt, clutching a black umbrella in her hands.

Backstage, one of the journalists asked Daniel Lee what he found the most challenging about the British brand. “The curse and also the beauty of Burberry,” Lee answered. “It appeals to such a broad cross-section of people. But in trying to please everyone you can end up pleasing no one. As a designer, you have to have a point of view. You can’t make a simple trench coat forever.” But, what can you do if your clients still walk into your boutique in search of it?

When we were leaving the show space, one wondered if Daniel Lee’s Burberry could actually find its customer after three seasons, as financial reports are still not as good as expected, and there are rumours circling around that the British designer has already been fired. So will Daniel Lee stay for a few seasons in the UK or the fashion merry-go-round would take him back to Continental Europe?

True to his tradition of showing outdoors and touring around London’s greatest parks, Daniel Lee staged his third show for the iconic British house in a giant tent, installed in East London’s Victoria Park. “We wanted to create a sense of the outdoors within the show space itself. I wanted it to feel like a forest at night”, the designer explained in his show notes. Well, with models walking on the green carpet, it did look like the outdoors.

“Burberry icons are evolved through shape and fabric, evoking a feeling of warmth, protection and outdoorsy elegance. Inspired by the landscapes and people of the UK and Ireland”. The message of the show was clear, when you are a UK icon, like Burberry, you need to focus on keeping your clients warm, as the winters here are windy, rainy and snowy. That’s why in his collection Lee focused mainly on the outerwear: shearling coats, cozy parkas, duffle coats and field jackets were omnipresent on the runway. And of course there were trenches from a classic checked one to more unusual moleskin and leather ones.

Text: LIDIA AGEEVA