Daniel Lee has been much talked about lately because the Burberry board replaced the CEO Jonathan Akeroyd who signed him up and replaced him with Joshua Schulman a safe pair of CEO hands with experience in the Gucci Group and most recently Coach and Michael Kors. Or better said, a man with experience in affordable luxury. Is this the end for Lee? Not at all, judging from yesterday’s collection. Lee is staying true to his course and continues to riff on outdoor dressing with nightlife party elements in a slouchy and forgiving silhouette with fantastic hardware. This was certainly not an attempt to present yet another new Burberry. His turnaround for Burberry has not taken off at the cash register even if all the elements that are necessary to turn around a brand are in place: great stores, cool campaigns, clever clothes, and desirable accessories. Maybe the CEO just needs to lower the prices, refine the positioning, look at store windows and reign in the spending like a lavish sponsorship of the British Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale which brings no added value to the brand in this economic climate?
Daniel Lee’s Burberry S/S 2025 collection
Outdoor dressing with nightlife elements
The trench dress?
The set of green cut out fabric panels was made by the artist Gary Hume and Burberry also invited guests to a show by the artist at gallery Sprüth Magers in Mayfair. Lee said that part of Hume’s art reminds him of the basic elements of a trench coat as in panels and epaulets. So, he cleverly deconstructed the trench for his women’s wear to render feather light floor length dresses or mini trench capes.
Gary Hume’s set for Burberry S/S 2025
Lee reconstructed trench coats into dresses
Mini trench capes
The Lee signatures?
Jazzing up outerwear is at the core of Lee’s work as in adorning the outfits with silk organza faux feather trim since the first show. Adding long zippers in the front of men’s pants is a recurring theme as well as a boxy silhouette and glittery evening wear.
Lee’s signature trimmings
Zippers along the crease of the men’s pants
Glittery evening wear
Toga
After a four-year hiatus, Toga designer Yasuko Furuta brought her collection back to the runway from Paris to London. This was a clever move in itself as the London season seems to have less competition for well-made, thought-out clothes with a clear understanding of pattern cutting only Japanese designers can bring to the table. In Paris, Toga is in a sea of competition, here it can stand out with its signature draping and pleating as the name of the Roman garment suggests in the first place.
Yasuko Furuta’s Toga is back in London
Thought-out clothes and construction
Signature draping and pleating methods
Transparency and deconstruction?
Her final look of a two-layer, dissected Perfecto leather jacket worn over a preppy light blue shirt showed the cutting prowess of Furuta. Many of the dresses and tops worked with transparency which enabled Furuta to anchor her looks around the flowing fabrics. A standout look was a yellow draped see through dress over burgundy palazzo pants and dangling fabric strands.
Perfecto leather jacket worn over a simple blue shirt
Flowy fabrics made for an interesting transparency play
Our standout look
What stood out?
Toga has a wonderful sense of color as in faded yellows and blues. The floral shiny chintz dresses with voluminous bubble shapes below the waist added a cool party girl element.
Nice play of colors in full checkered looks
Voluminous shintz dresses
