In recent years, many luxury houses have got rid of their historic logo, often with a serif (these are the light serifs added to each end of the characters in typography), to show a more understated, minimal and non-serif version. This has been the case with Saint Laurent, Balmain, Berluti or even Burberry. The latter, artistically directed from 2018 to 2022 by Riccardo Tisci (himself emblematic artistic director of Givenchy from 2005 to 2017) nonetheless proposes a restyling that suggests a return to (bourgeois) sources, under the creative impulse of his new DA , Daniel Lee , and perhaps a game changer for the entire industry.
Who is Daniel Lee, Burberry’s new artistic director?
Daniel Lee, born on January 22, 1986 in Bradford, England, graduated in 2010 from the prestigious London fashion school Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. After internships for Maison Margiela and Balenciaga (he was Nicolas Ghesquière), he joined Celine in 2012 (around Phoebe Philo). This journey speaks volumes about the minimalist and cerebral aesthetic that she then brilliantly breathed for Bottega Veneta, a discreet luxury house (belonging to the Kering group) known above all for her woven leathers. Since his appointment as head of artistic direction in June 2018, Daniel Lee had the company’s Instagram account deleted there, he has contributed in no small way to imposing frank green, says Kelly, everywhere in fashion (so much so that he is nicknamed “Bottega green ” ) and revived the taste for woven bags, especially thanks to hers bagthe cassette (its other Best seller, the Pouch, would even be the best-selling in the history of the brand according to the New York Times). In 2020, thanks to him, Bottega Veneta will return to growth, totaling 1.2 billion in turnover, with an increase of 4.8%. All this without ever giving in to the sirens of logomania.
Except that, in November 2021, Daniel Lee leaves his position as artistic director of Bottega Veneta. Officially, due to internal disputes with the rest of the creative team, he reports HQ. unofficially, he is said to have made racist remarks in the office. But as pointed out by an anonymous person nicknamed the high fashion twitternamely, people who like to talk about the fashion industry on the blue bird social network: if John Galliano was able to continue his career in fashion after the anti-Semitic scandal (he has flourished since 2014 as CEO of Maison Margiela), Daniel Lee can survive accusations of racism.
We will never know the end of this finished story, but who cares since Daniel Lee has recovered, after a year off, being appointed artistic director of Burberry in September 2022, following the announcement of Riccardo Tisci’s farewell (it is not still known where the latter will go).
Burberry revives its old logo and motto “Prorsum”
As Daniel Lee prepares to present his first collection for Burberry on 20 February 2023 as part of London Fashion Week, before teasers indicate a drastic change. Or rather a return to the origins. In fact, the young Englishman with a minimalist style had the brand’s Instagram account emptied to post the first visuals announcing the new era of the maison founded by Thomas Burberry in 1856 on February 6, 2023.
We can therefore see a reinterpretation of an old claw logo, that of the dark blue Equestrian Knight Design, designed around 1901, and the return of the motto “Prorsum” (Latin term for forward, directly). It was the name of the most exclusive fashion show of the maison, directed by Christopher Bailey (emblematic artistic director of Burberry from 2000 to 2017). Even the font is different: get out of the sans serif imposed under Riccardo Tisci, go back to a light serif taken from the archives of the 90s.
To better signify this change of brand identity, several British personalities were photographed in front of the emblems of the United Kingdom: musical artists Shygirl, Skepta, John Glacier; actress Vanessa Redgrave and footballer Raheem Sterling. And what would the United Kingdom and fashion be without a good dose of nepotism: including Liam Gallagher’s son, Lennon, in the electoral campaign. Enough to embody the link between tradition and modernity, you had it…
Old money aesthetics: a return to the classics, BCBG codes and the cult of heritage
After a relatively maximalist era and Street wear under Riccardo Tisci, we can therefore expect a re-gentrification of Burberry, reinterpretations of the maison’s heritage, Daniel Lee’s cerebral minimalism sauce. Note that the Saint Laurent brand, which had been amputated from “Yves” and switched to sans serif in a Helvetica-like typeface under the Hedi Slimane era, offered a new take on its brand name which uses the typography of Cassandre’s famous logo (the one that intertwines the YSL initials vertically). A clear sign of a change in the air: a return to serifs, to archive logos, then to the cult of heritage, and above all to the BCBG wardrobe, after years of reign of the Street wear in the fashion industry?
Celine’s current commercial under Hedi Slimane, who contributes heavily to making loafers, ballet flats, tweed jackets and Triomphe logo handbags very understated and bourgeois, tends to suggest this. In short, the style old money he has a bright future ahead of him, even at Burberry.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
