Burberry SS23 Brought British Seaside Cues to the Industrial Warehouses of London
With Kanye West, Anna Wintour, Daniel Kaluuya, Stormzy, Pa Salieu, Griff, Edward Enninful, Luka Sabbat, Headie One and Gillian Anderson all in attendance.
London Fashion Week was a highlight of the fashion month calendar, delivering standout shows from Chet Lo, Simone Rocha, JW Anderson and more, but missing from that week’s roster was Riccardo Tisci‘s Burberry. In light of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Burberry decided to cancel their show (alongside Raf Simons), before turning things around for a re-scheduled event today. With most of the crowd somewhere between Milan and Paris for these city’s respective fashion weeks, Burberry promised a more intimate affair reduced to only a few hundred guests — but that’s no bad thing, as it only puts a more intense focus on the clothing and show format itself.
Alongside this, rumors have been circulating that this season — Spring/Summer 2023 — could be Tisci’s last, with Daniel Lee or even Clare Waight Keller set to replace him after a five-year tenure. Alas, as Tisci took to an industrial unit in London earlier today to present his Burberry SS23 collection, it was nothing but a star-studded affair.
Kanye West, Stormzy, Headie One, Anna Wintour, Gillian Anderson, Edward Enninful, Pa Salieu, Luka Sabbat, and many many others sat front row (alongside the lucky Hypebeast team) as the likes of Naomi Campbell and Bella Hadid strutted the makeshift warehouse runway. Soprano opera singer Nadine Sierra and the London Contemporary Orchestra played a specially commissioned piece for the show, starting silently and then building in suspense before stopping at the end of the show — but more on that later.
Looks were quintessentially Burberry, bolstered by the house’s iconic check print. Sensuality and sensibility were the briefs, and Tisci hit the nail on the head, as swimwear was beaming in crystal embellishments and accessories were tactile square bags that slid onto the arm, mirroring floatation devices.
Tailoring, particularly effective in a sequenced trio of bold blue and yellow hues, brought together sports with sartorial codes. The result was fun, and at times subverted, or perhaps altered from the tradition. See the bin bag-like vest and pants with a white tee, and compare it to a final array of funeral-ready attire, kitted in black velour, lace gloves, and double-breasted blazers — the final look offered alongside a new set of thong slides.
The Burberry trench coat — a house staple — comes in washed gabardine and informs skirts and jackets across both men’s and womenswear for a tech-meets-traditional hybridization. Likewise, leather versions are cut with asymmetrical zippers, dissected with belts, and accented with storm flaps for something akin to a biker jacket.
There was a sensuality to it all, but also a sort of hiding too. It’s something we’ve seen throughout the SS23 season — sex, but not overt. Here, Tisci cut windows into leather pants, branded mesh body suits are barely there but fully cover, and body-consuming fishnets paired with crinkled satin conjure thoughts of a disrupted slumber.
Together, Tisci “explores different ideas and ideals of Britishness through dress — youth and experience, the intimate and the public, the raw against the refined. The mingling of contradictory sensibilities leads to energizing contrasts in ideology and physicality. The temperamental British weather and, in turn, the temperament of the British people, inspire an approach that celebrates notions of layering, of both concealing and revealing the body, of clothes dynamic in their potential for revelation.”
Take a look at the Burberry SS23 runway show above, and find more content from the show on @HypebeastUK.
In other news, Raf Simons has confirmed he will show in London.
