Let's Unpack Burberry's New Look, Old Logo and Nostalgia for a Less Equal Time, Shall We?
By Ruth Young
Image: Burberry
In January, just weeks before London Fashion Week and the brand’s Fall/Winter 2023 show, Burberry wiped its social media accounts of all previously posted content and started anew with a campaign showcasing its “new creative expression under Daniel Lee.” Lee was most recently creative director of Bottega Veneta and replaced Burberry’s previous CCO, Riccardo Tisci, in October, which means this campaign is the first sign of his influence at the historic British brand—and it’s clear Britishness will be at the core of his creative direction.
The campaign, shot by photographer Tyrone Lebon, features a range of new brand ambassadors, including grime rapper Skepta, iconic actor and activist Vanessa Redgrave and South Korean model Jun Ji-Hyun—and a new logo. Well actually, a take on a very old logo.
In the world of luxury fashion, the recent trend has been for brands to simplify their logos so these images can be more easily printed or embroidered on accessories, which would then boost sales. (At least, that’s the hope.) That was the direction Tisci took with the brand’s last new logo, which was unveiled in 2018. It was a minimalist design featuring a sans-serif typeface that was more in line with buzzy new start-up than a 160-year-old fashion house. Now, under Lee, Burberry has returned to a serif typeface and has even resurrected its Burberry Equestrian Knight logo, which was first designed in 1901. The implicit (and explicit, based on the brand’s IG captions) promise of all this? A return to Burberry’s historical British roots.
We won’t know exactly what Burberry's new identity will look like until Burberry’s Fall/Winter ‘23 London Fashion Week show on Feb. 20, but based on interviews with Lee, one thing is evident: this collection will be a return to Burberry’s origins. “Burberry flies the flag for Britishness and for the UK and for culture. So, we have to use our platforms because we have a responsibility to communicate those things,” he told Vogue Runway in December.
Here’s what I want to know, though: what exactly does that mean and how will that translate on the runway? In recent years, most conversations around British heritage have been calls to address the violence of colonialism and the role of the monarchy in British society. I’m very curious to know whether this will be another situation like the 2022 Met Gala, which was themed around Gilded Glamour. That is, another moment where the history of colonialism is glamourized in fashion.
Of course, For Lee, this type of ‘Britishness’ might mean a callback to the Burberry that he grew up with. “I’m from Bradford, Yorkshire, very close to Castleford, where the trench coats are manufactured, and to Keighley, where the gabardine is made,” he told British Vogue. “So it’s very close to my homeland. And some of my mum’s family worked in various factories that were supplying for Burberry. My mum actually has the trench coat that her aunt had gotten as a retirement gift. It’s kind of sweet.”
This would not be the first time that a luxury fashion brand (or any brand, really) has leaned on the power of nostalgia. When Tom Ford took over Gucci in the ‘90s, he wanted to return to a place of excitement in fashion that he felt had disappeared. “I want fashion to be fun again, like it was in the 1960s,” he said at the time. “You couldn't wait to get the clothes and put them on, and I think we've lost that.”
Similarly, Lee’s desire to revive elements and iconography from Burberry’s archive may be more personal than commercial. “After all, the etymology of nostalgia comes down to a painful desire to return home,” wrote Kyle Chaka in an essay for Town and Country magazine.
But Lee’s personal feelings aside, this rebrand is also part of a greater marketing strategy for the luxury brand. According to Vogue Business, Burberry CEO Jonathan Akeroyd hopes Burberry will double its revenue to £5 billion in the long term under Lee’s control. So, while I’m super excited for the show, I think it’s also worth questioning not just what Lee’s “ode to Britishness” will actually look like, but also what it says about British society—especially its wealthiest members—that the company is betting nostalgia for a time of even more income inequality, social stratification and oppression is the key to hitting its revenue goals.