Burberry’s facelift has created a brand new face in the fashion world, where there is no hiding: emotions, feelings and restlessness were to be seen in the Burberry brand and, however much they tried to disguise, anyone who knows the brand knew they were in a bit of trouble and that this facelift was more than welcome.
The problem is that, as time goes by, other new and exciting brands show up, fresh new collaborations appear, and the same group of industry peers get something new and exciting going. You feel left behind, because those actions can (and did) cause the brand to appear to be unwanted, which might be the basis for irritation. Even if the brand is very relaxed and happy with all the new campaigns and collection, the changes can make the brand look older than it actually feels.
The signs of aging that appeared for Burberry were troubling. Sure we can say that the brand was sticking to the classic and the vintage feel, but even that made the brand fall behind amongst the big 4 of luxurious fashion brands: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and Chanel.
Taking all of that into consideration, every now and then you must have that facelift, a fresh start I might say. It’s the circle of life, and the 162-year-old company sure took that to a “T”. We had a feeling that this would be coming soon when the label announced the name of Christopher Bailey’s replacement: none other than the legendary Riccardo Tisci.
“I am honored and very happy to be part of Burberry as a new creative director. I have tremendous respect for Burberry’s British heritage and its global appeal, and I am thrilled with the potential of this exceptional brand”, Riccardo said on his social media.
We all know the direction luxury fashion is taking, is towards the new generations, the youth is the key to the new age of fashion and Tisci knows about that from working for Givenchy for many years. Burberry knew that they had the right person for the facelift because Tisci didn’t waste any time. Right off the bat he announced a partnership with Vivienne Westwood, icon of the London punk scene since the 1970s, which caught everyone by surprise. This absolutely made sense, Vivienne was one of the first designers to help Tisci become a well-known stylist.
Tisci’s new era at “Burbs” is just getting started. This week Burberry unveiled the brand’s new logo and its delightful: a red & honey monogram designed by Peter Saville (another Tisci move, making Peter the Chief Creative Officer). The amazing part of this was that the logo was designed and approved in only four weeks per email correspondence between Peter and Tisci! Kudos to them for the straight to the point process!
Fun fact, all this changing and the facelift approach on the new logo were inspired by a logo from 1908 and the Thomas Burberry monogram. Yeah! The old and historical is still inspiring the new. According to Business of Fashion, it’s been almost two decades since Burberry changed its logo. It was about time because all the top tier brands revamped their aesthetics into new and creative directions. So Tisci, what do you have coming next for “BURBS”?
Diego Aguiar @Di.r.a
