Unpopular opinion: Daniel Lee’s spring collection for Burberry was actually pretty good. It felt very London circa 2005 – but not in a wannabe Y2K way; more in an Arctic Monkeys–cool kind of way. I can totally picture Alex Turner wearing one of those acidic-green leather trench coats or killer-pink bombers. Lee really delivered on outerwear this season, and the same goes for accessories – the chunky, elongated scarves look great and fun. Overall, he seems to have a stronger hand in menswear than in womenswear, and that’s probably where a lot of the online criticism has sparked. The crochet dresses à la Mary Quant felt too Topshop. Reportedly, Burberry is lowering its prices to better fit the market, but that doesn’t mean the brand should start veering toward a high-street aesthetic.
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Burberry felt good. Maybe it didn’t reinvent the wheel, but being conceptual was never a Burberry thing to do. Daniel Lee is starting to know what he’s doing and that showed in his best collection yet, the autumn-winter 2025 outing, riffing on the style of British aristocracy with a grain of salt. The clothes – outerwear, especially – were convincing and desirably-looking, but let’s be honest: the casting worked the hardest, and it gave the collection a sense of authentic believability. From Naomi Campbell to Jason Isaacs, you saw true characters on the runway – who happened to wear Burberry (that looked like Burberry – finally!). One thing Lee could work on is the heaviness some of his clothes are burdened with, especially the eveningwear.
While Burberry‘s financial performance is under scrutiny, it seems to me that Daniel Lee has found his ground at the brand. His last collection already had that “something”; spring-summer 2025 is a further exploration of Britishness (through a London lens) meeting modernity. A spirit of late 2000’s London style was palpable, especially in the imaginative clash of high and low: maxi-skirts worn with polos, utilitarian parkas with dazzling, embellished dresses. A cropped trench jacket styled with cargo pants was another highlight, just like Maya Wigram’s faded-green denim look. The storm flap, epaulettes, shoulder vent, Napoleon collar and belt of the house-archetype trench were intelligently applied across multiple garments including open-backed dresses, a popper-peppered twinset, and abbreviated, feather-collared jackets. This was a good show with good clothes.
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Daniel Lee is finally getting it right at Burberry. Resort 2025 is his best collection so far, and it seems to be a moment where the designer really knows what he wants to make out of the brand. I think he’s gradually taking a smart approach of making Burberry the British Ralph Lauren. Less superfluous runway styling, more stately clothes that are interweaved with a sense of authentic Britishness. The resort lookbook nicely co-ordinates high and low, making the checkered apparel look as good as the more daring pieces – especially all the gorgeous suede leatherwork with hand-cut florals and the furry fringes of mint-green and caramel-beige bolero jackets. The collection also offers a truly charming, cross-generational appeal. “It’s giving a modern spin on British tradition,” Lee remarked about the immaculately cut yet plain-seeming brown wool men’s blazer, worn by model Will Chalker. It’s part of Burberry’s remit to serve men’s suits; Lee smartly pushes a sense of Savile Row restraint, but not in a conservative stuffed-shirt sort of way. “It’s a modern interpretation of what you think King Charles would wear,” remarked the designer. Well, I can definitely see the King fronting Burberry’s next campaign. “Trans-seasonal, with a soft tactility” is also something Lee said about the collection. “Everything has to look good on a hanger. Worth the money. Because ultimately we’re making expensive clothes we want people to want to wear for a very long time.” The realization is that each piece has to live alone and justify its usefulness and quality, but it’s the way you put them together that creates character. You can see that when Lee styles a cargo pant with a pointy mule, and tops the look with a polished chestnut leather belted moto-jacket. Very 1990s Spice Girl. But also pieces will age well.
Here are some very good Burberry by Daniel Lee pieces you can update your trans-seasonal wardrobe with…
Daniel Lee is finding his ground at Burberry. Well, it’s high-time: the sales don’t look good at the British brand, and the plans of making Burberry a high-class-luxury player seem to be too ambitious. But what Lee presented under the tent in Victoria Park yesterday was quite convincing. To the tune of Amy Winehouse’s biggest hits, London’s O.G. models – Agyness Deyn, Lily Donaldson, Karen Elson, Lily Cole, Nomi Campbell – marched in desirably-looking outerwear, no-nonsense knitwear and plaid flannels. Maya Wigram – Phoebe Philo’s daughter! – closed the show. This gesture felt like a blessing from the fellow London-based designer who schooled Lee at her Céline studio. The styling of the show was persuasive as well: maxi-skirts styled with short varsity jackets, slouchy shearling coats mixed with super-oversized pants, and of course, a range of revisited moleskin trenches in shades of earthy greens and browns. Echoes of Christopher Bailey-era Burberry were heard and seen all around. All this certainly felt good to watch, but will it actually lure the clients to invest in Burberry just as they did in the early 2010s? Time will tell.
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