London may be a thriving metropolis, but for his second collection as creative director, Daniel Lee leans into the clichés of the British countryside for Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2024 show. Pitching a tent at Highbury Fields Park for his guests— complete with food trucks handing out Eccles cakes, Guinness bread and cups of tea—the designer evoked the warmth and hospitality that underpins English culture.
Exploring the lightness and understated sensuality of Northern summers, the collection offers an elevated take on outdoor living with prolific themes of fresh florals and breezy fabrications, modernised with Lee’s ever-relevant eye for instant classics. Even the brand’s trademark trench coats are not erased but reimagined as light and sharp with asymmetrical lapels and belted loosely at the hip for warmer months. Other summery notes were present in a more grown-up take on summer prints, with bright florals and fruits—specifically strawberries and cherries—rendered in darker hues and styled with opaque tones.
Most notable was the emphasis on branding that Lee pushed further with this collection. In a market so saturated with monograms and logomania, the designer takes a more tongue-in-cheek approach. While he has done well to reintroduce the world to Burberry’s archive knight on horseback emblem, he now weaves new signifiers in prints on scarves, skirts and shirts made up of metal clamps and silver chains that warp around the body and give a three-dimensional effect. Shield-like shapes were also found on bags, sunglasses and footwear, suggesting the emergence of a new signature.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.