Daniel Lee Debuted at Burberry and Bottega Veneta Redownloaded Social Media in This Week's Top Fashion News
Stay up to date on the latest industry headlines.
This week, fashion was in full throttle. London Fashion Week came to a conclusion, and among standout shows from the likes of Mowalola, Christopher Kane and Chet Lo, Daniel Lee emerged with his debut collection at the helm of Burberry. While honoring the house’s history, the designer effectively set the heritage fashion house on an entirely new path. Following LFW’s ending, the latter half of the week saw Milan Fashion Week begin, with a series of stellar shows from brands including Prada, Gucci and Diesel.
Off the runway, Lee’s alma mater, Bottega Veneta (now run by Matthieu Blazy), returned to social media on the popular Chinese platform Weibo. The brand had taken a hiatus from all platforms since 2021 when Lee scratched the label’s social-media footprint altogether. Meanwhile, Aimé Leon Dore revealed its Spring/Summer 2023 lookbook; Stüssy uncovered a new denim collaboration with Levi’s, and H&M announced that Mugler would be its next designer collaborator.
Below, Hypebeast has rounded up the top fashion stories of the week so you can stay up to date on trends in the industry.
Daniel Lee Debuted at Burberry
After leaving Bottega Veneta in 2021, Daniel Lee made his debut at the helm of Burberry earlier this week, with a Fall/Winter 2023 collection that set a new tone at the heritage label.
The collection saw the return of Burberry Prorsum, the fashion house’s archival logo that reappeared in bold across dresses and hid snugly between historic checkered motifs on a variety of silhouettes. Speaking of checks, the designer bid farewell to all the brand’s typical Nova Check patterns and instead opted for blown-up iterations that commanded form-hugging shirts, wide-set trousers, billowing coats and more.
Elsewhere, many silhouettes held a spotlight on roses, with one T-shirt reading, “Not All Roses Are Red.” Dresses were made from multi-colored feathers, while larger versions took over breastplates on top constructions. Lee also debuted several new accessories for Burberry, which has long needed a quintessential bag. Among them, several arrived in leather, faux fur and metal.
See Daniel Lee’s full debut Burberry collection here.
Bottega Veneta Returned to Social Media
Ever since its abrupt disappearance from all platforms two years ago, Bottega Veneta has opted to forego a social media presence altogether. In lieu of Reels, TikToks and Stories, the Italian fashion house previously experimented with a proprietary iPhone app, on which it shared content leading up to creative director Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Bottega’s helm — but its cleanse from the mainstream feeds remained very real.
Now, in an entrance just as stealthy as its exit, the Kering-owned label has quietly returned to social media — not Instagram, TikTok or Twitter, but the popular Chinese social media app, Weibo.
There, the brand posted several teaser videos for its forthcoming Fall/Winter 2023 collection, which earned upwards of 2.5 million views, 2,200 likes and more than 250 comments, ahead of the show’s commencement on March 2. Similar videos were shared to Blazy’s official social accounts and @newbottega, a fan account for the label with more than 1.2 million followers on Instagram. At the time of writing, Bottega’s official Weibo account has amassed over 3,500 followers.
Prada, Gucci, Diesel and More Stormed Milan Fashion Week
Milan Fashion Week is in full swing, as top Italian design houses debut their latest cuts for the Fall/Winter 2023 season. Diesel first stole showgoers’ attention, with a collection that was “shredded, lubricated and sexually protected,” as Hypebeast put it. Prada came next, with an elegant range that redefined formal uniforms under the moniker “Recycling Beauty.” MM6 Maison Margiela, meanwhile, prioritized deconstruction and unconventional layering.
GCDS, too, put on a spectacle, with a line that escaped into the world of Alice in Wonderland. On Friday, Gucci entered a new era with its Fall 2023 collection, which marked the brand’s final runway show ahead of Sabato De Sarno’s debut as creative director.
Stay up to date on Hypebeast’s Milan Fashion Week coverage, here.
Aimé Leon Dore Dropped Its Spring/Summer 2023 Lookbook
Aimé Leon Dore delivered its Spring/Summer 2023 lookbook, featuring a collection that’s galvanized by the lifestyle and beauty of the Greek Islands.
Creative director Teddy Santis, who grew up in Queens in a Greek household, looked to the colors of the Aegean Sea and the Isalnd’s environments for the collection’s color palette. The brand’s warm-weather lineup includes a variety of fabrics, graphics, prints and branding motifs. Seasonal materials include leather, suede, mesh, selvedge denim, fleece, silk and cashmere, among others.
The collection includes outerwear, suits, denim clothing, tracksuits, shirts and jerseys, along with a bevy of headwear. Among the standouts, there’s a lambskin racer jacket, a brown-hued double-breasted suit, a knit cycling jersey and a fresh range of New Era hats.
Aimé Leon Dore’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection is now available at the Aimé Leon Dore concept store (61 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012), the Aimé Leon Dore London flagship store (32 Broadwick St. London, UK W1F 8JB), as well as on the brand’s website.
Stüssy and Levi’s Revealed a New Denim Collaboration
Stüssy and Levi’s announced their latest collaboration earlier this week, featuring a pair of 501® Jeans and a modified Type II Trucker Jacket — two signature Levi’s silhouettes redone with Stüssy’s emblematic design codes.
The 501® Jeans arrive in an aged indigo wash, with an original fit and a straight leg. With five-pocket styling and a signature button fly donning co-branded shanks, the silhouette prioritizes utility while celebrating the team-up. Elsewhere, the pants feature an embossed Stüssy and Levi’s motif on their front left and back right legs.
Meanwhile, the Type II Trucker Jacket appears in an identical wash, with a modified, boxy fit. The exterior construction features relaxed arms, additional welt pockets and a corduroy collar, while the interior lining flaunts Stüssy’s iconic eight-ball logo.
The collection is available to shop on the brands’ websites now.
S&P Slashed adidas Debt Rating as Earnings Tumbled
Following reports that adidas’ revenue was projected to decrease by $1.29 billion USD thanks to unsold YEEZY inventory, S&P Global Ratings lowered its long and short-term credit rating for adidas from A+ to A-.
“Adidas faces a multitude of business challenges, including the termination of its Yeezy partnership, ongoing competitive pressures in the Chinese market, and a contraction of consumer demand in Western countries,” said S&P Global Ratings in a public disclosure.
Notably, YEEZY products composed 5% of the brand’s total sales in 2021 and the percentage was predicted to increase to 7% last year, prior to the partnership’s termination.
“The numbers speak for themselves. We are currently not performing the way we should”, adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden stated in a press release earlier this month. “2023 will be a year of transition to set the base to again be a growing and profitable company. We will put full focus on the consumer, our athletes, our retail partners and our adidas employees.”
H&M Tapped Mugler for Its Next Designer Collaboration
Fast-fashion giant H&M has joined forces with Mugler for its next designer collaboration, launching online and in select retail locations this spring.
The capsule collection, crafted by H&M’s creative advisor, Ann-Sofie Johansson, and Mugler’s creative director, Casey Cadwallader, will mark the latest in H&M’s series of high-low team-ups. The Swedish brand began its high-fashion collaborations in 2004, with a collection by Karl Lagerfeld. Since then, H&M has released collections with Stella McCartney, Moschino, Maison Margiela, Balmain, Isabel Marant, Comme des Garçons, Lanvin, Versace, Simon Rocha and Giambattista Valli.
H&M is looking to boost sales, after reports stated that its operating profit for the quarter concluding in November of last year declined to $79.2 million USD, down from $603.6 million USD the year prior, according to Business of Fashion. The brand’s designer collaborations are known to sell out quickly, with hours-long lines forming outside of its flagship stores. The fast-fashion retailer will likely see a boost from its collaboration with Mugler, which now exists at the fore of fashion thanks to Cadwallader’s direction and a slew of famous fans, including Kylie Jenner, Dua Lipa and Cardi B.