This season, Molly Goddard played with the notion of a “behind the scenes” moment: what’s happening behind the surface, or closed doors or… the clothes. The spring-summer 2024 show took place at Christie’s auction house on King Street, the other occasions upon which the designer would tend to visit were during the set up of displays. She elaborated: “When there are these masterpieces just lying on the floor: it’s kind of amazing to see and very exciting, which I guess in some way is connected to the collection.” Goddard fashioned a fair few masterpieces of her own in a lineup that focused on nudging the mechanics of garments to the surface, turning them inside out in order to create a patina of production. She said she’d done her research in the National Theatre Costume Hire, examining the stitched clockwork of garments ranging in style from Regency to contemporary. Long skirts were shirred at the hip to create drape down to edged froths of pale ruffled petticoat. The trademark tulle skirts were teamed with loosely corseted tops whose sheerness exposed the geography of boning and corsetry that defined their gentle geography. A dusty pink woolen cardigan was edged with a two-inch strip of satin, like some old granny blanket left bundled in the cupboard of a spare room. Washed out red rose prints used on more skirts and knitted into another cardigan – magenta paneled at the shoulder – added to the sense of comfortable, domestic nostalgia. A precise excavation of the deeply familiar but also overlooked, this was a quietly masterful collection. Said Goddard: “What I enjoy most is when I get really stuck in to how to make clothes; the techniques and the fabrics and the fit.” That pleasure in Goddard’s process was evident in its result.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
Mowalola Ogunlesi delivered a sharp start of London Fashion Week. Mowalola, the brand, is fast, furious, and at times obscene, but in a creatively vital way. Backstage of her spring-summer 2024 show, the designer, said the collection had been sparked by her first-ever viewing of David Cronenberg’s Crash. “I was really excited by the fetishization of pain through crashing,” she said. It prompted her to imagine “a whole universe that resides on the street,” filtered through a prism of ecstatic jeopardy. But Mowalola doesn’t stick to one reference. Masturbating anime girl prints; off-the-shoulder bombers with faux Highway Patrol patches; thigh-highs and micro skirts inspired by street walkers. A lot of stuff that Ogulensi’s customers will love. All that, like the excellent dirty denims, seemed to emanate a conceptual solar system adjacent to some of Glenn Martens’s work at Diesel. The pants that flashed cracks at the back and crotch hairlines were maybe subject to the influence of Alexander McQueen’s gravity. This was good company to keep: however the gartered, bisected pants and skirts, now a Mowalola signature, were all Ogunlesi’s own. The flags-of-the world theme was another highlight. This also ran into a poignant EU skirt meets Union Jack cap look. The extreme contrast of volumes in some sportswear looks made the generic appear particular.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
Burberry‘s garments and accessories are inextricably linked with the phenomenon of “Britishness.” These timeless classics are woven into a British identity that is constantly evolving and ever-changing, like fashion. “Burberry has been a British institution since its inception in 1856” – says Naomi Campbell, who has regularly been the face of the historic brand’s advertising campaigns over the years. “By wearing Burberry, I feel that I am representing my country. I believe that British style always leads the trends. We Brits don’t just wear it, we live it,” she explains. The last two decades, through various creative directors and their visions, have established Burberry as a heritage brand , which remains at the forefront of fashion and its associated culture.
However, the aforementioned Britishness is a flexible and multifaceted concept. Perhaps because this phenomenon is full of paradoxes, and consists of opposites that mutually attract each other and organically coexist. The history of imperialism and the controversial Brexit are associated with the term Britishness as much as the beige trench coat, rainy weather and ironic sense of humor of the English. British society is made up of people who wear all sorts of uniforms, yet are true rebels. What they have in common is a multi-generational love of Burberry.
The brand naturally communicates many expressive signs of a collective, internationally understood notion of Britishness. In the 18th century, France saw a fashion trend perceived as British – it was called Anglomania, and the clothes associated with it were simple, well-tailored, often made of linen and wool, without unnecessary ornamentation. Ideas of functionality and utility are central to the British way of life, hence perhaps the reason why, a century after the Anglomania phenomenon, rainproof outerwear by Thomas Burberry made of luxurious but eminently practical fabrics has become a symbol of Britishness around the world.
Burberry’s Britishness also encompasses distinctive clichés – like the fashion brand’s focus on weather resistance. Burberry’s clothes and accessories are designed for the British rains, which last year-round, and ironically refer to the famous British propensity to discuss just the weather. Words like “democratic” and “egalitarian” come up when it comes to the British clothing discourse – and when it comes to Burberry. After all, the design of Burberry’ s iconic trench was taken from the world of uniforms. This is, of course, related to the idea of practicality. The brand’s clothing is inspired by workwear: it might as well be a tailored suit as a handmade fisherman’s sweater. Burberry trench epitomizes this kind of pragmatism: every element of it was created with maximum comfort in mind as a reaction to everyday life. Another of the brand’s main hallmarks is, of course, the globally recognized Burberry check, a streetwear uniform since the early 1980s. It was then that the iconic grille became a representation of affluence as well as youthful aspirations. It had a similar significance in the mid-1990s, when, representing Britishness, it became a symbol of the Cool Britannia movement and a favorite of such homegrown cultural figures as Liam Gallagher of the Britpop band Oasis.
Burberry appeared on the map of true high fashion thanks to Christopher Bailey, who for 17 years presented the brand’s show collections during London Fashion Week. Over this period of time, Burberry became synonymous with contemporary fashion that allowed itself to experiment within the safe confines of the lexicon of the aforementioned Britishness. From 2018 to 2022, Riccardo Tisci, the Italian designer who resurrected the Parisian fashion house Givenchy, tried to pull Burberry out of its stylistic comfort zone – which did not always end in commercial success. For him, working at Burberry was an exploration of the concept of national identity and its ever-changing nature (especially in the context of Brexit). “Here we have monarchy, art, elegance, perfection. And we also have that other, darker side: punk. That’s the beauty of Britain: incredible diversity,” the Italian designer concluded in an interview about his role at Burberry. British rebels continue to inspire: if in the mid-20th century the perception of Burberry largely leaned towards the style of dandies and aristocrats, today the brand is taking the aesthetics of British anarchy as far as possible. Tisci’s collections were created under the influence of the style of punks and mods, as well as casuals – the youth of the 1980s who wore Burberry in a non-conformist, rebellious way.
In February this year, we met a new chapter of Burberry, under the leadership of Daniel Lee – the British designer who was responsible for the global success of the “New Bottega” phenomenon a few years ago. Unlike Tisci, however, Lee is definitely going for a more settled Burberry image, closer to the image that Bailey so painstakingly promoted (it’s no coincidence that today Bailey acts as a mentor for Lee). Lee’s debut collection for the autumn-winter 2023 season has sparked a debate on social media: is it revealing and innovative enough? In this patchwork of Burberry’s signature checks, blanket coats perfect for nature, cozy knits and airy dresses in a romantic rose pattern, it’s hard to find any real fashion news. But Burberry was never meant to be a fashion concept, but a mainstay of comfortable classics and high quality.
“I think the brand is all about functionality,” Lee told the press after presenting his fall collection. His men’s plaid pants with zippered pockets allude to clothing ideal for walks in Britain’s damp moores, while the women’s kilts have a casual cut reminiscent of picnic blankets. Of course, the collection did not lack wellingtons kept in intense colors. The designer is eminently versed in creating desirable accessories. Kit Butler appeared on the catwalk wearing a hand-knitted trapper’s hat in the shape of a duck head. This sight caused a real sensation on Instagram.
The capacious bags and panniers are fastened with clip-ons in the shape of a “B” (like Burberry), and are decorated with dangling tails of faux fur. This kind of English eccentricity is something Lee plans to develop in his collections in future seasons. Instead of a banal logo with the brand’s name, Lee promotes a somewhat forgotten but iconic Burberry symbol: a medieval knight on horseback. The emblem appeared on white dresses as well as over-size scarves. The brand’s new “flagship” color is also an interesting treatment. It’s all about the shade of deep, vivid blue. After the success of the memorable green colour with which Lee won the hearts of Bottega Veneta customers, will the “Burberry Blue” color become a new hit? Time will tell.
The text was originally written by me for GentleWoman. All images via @burberry, photos by Tyrone Lebon.
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The theme of artist at home has sprung dozens of stories where a visionary creates a vividly alive environment that becomes not only their studio, but a “total artwork” (Germans have a term for it: Gesamtkunstwerk). History of art – especially the British one – has plenty of examples of such romances between creatives and their surroundings. Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill. Sir John Soane’s home-turned-museum. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant’s Charleston, which became a bucolic residency spot for the Bloomsbury Group. For his spring-summer 2024 collection, Steven Stokey-Daley centres around the duality of ceremony and practice, following the life and home of an artist. Harry Styles’ favourite designer began his research by studying the lives of British painters Lucien Freud and David Hockney in their working environments, taking a look back at British public school dress while examining the shifts in sexual identity in the early 1900s. All that sounds distinctly S.S. Daley. The new season offering is a neat continuation of Steven’s style vocabulary: clean-cut suiting is paired with pleated shorts, blooming hydrangea embroideries decorate striped workwear sets, oversized wool knits are canvases for charming dachshund puppies (Hockney’s favorite breed, as well as mine!) and ducks. Some of the shirts come in still life fruit bowl print, which reminisces the ever-evolving European artistic tradition. Multi-pocketed, waterproof coats are nonchalantly splashed with paint (you just always splatter your favorite clothes while painting!), echoing the collection’s idea of merging the domestic intimacy with the sacred act of creating and expressing your own, untamed, highly-personal thing.
And here’s a bunch of my favourite S.S. Daley items you can shop right now:
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
Daniel Lee‘s era at Burberry is taking shape. In his debut, Britishness and the emphasis on the outdoor-wear were the biggest take-aways. In his second collection – resort 2024 – these ideas are further developed. I’m stuck with the same impression as back in February: the offering is good, but… I’m not shook. It seems that Lee’s Burberry will be much safer in fashion-wise terms, comparing to his time at Bottega Veneta. The latest line-up is a mix of “proper” looking clothes with a touch of Philo-isms (Lee worked under Phoebe at Céline; the silk foulard look in swan print is a clear signifier of that) and accessory tricks he mastered to perfection at Bottega (the big, chunky boots are back). The faux-fur trapper hat is still hot, even though we’ve seen it on the runway debut. Probably the most interesting thing about the collection is what the designer did with Prince of Wales check. He morphed it into something sophisticated but just a little weird: traditional at the top, but warping downwards into digital-age waves. Below that, tights that take up the same pattern. And on the feet, a slew of the kind of footwear that engendered fanatical enthusiasm from Lee’s followers at Bottega. The designer talked about establishing “an outdoor and outerwear” feel for this collection. That’s Burberry-central, of course – windswept moors, rain coats, quilted jackets, and all that. Playing around with Burberry checks comes with the territory. The landscape and culture are first nature to this Yorkshire-born designer, meaning he’s no need to ladle on the references with a heavy hand. One of his English country-walk tropes turned into a delightful lattice-work of yellow dandelion flowers printed on dresses in a pattern mimicking a traditional argyle.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
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