Britishness

Reading into Burberry’s refresh

By now we know the drill: luxury brand enlists exciting young creative director, its brand identity is made dramatically modern and minimal, and then, once all traces of the brand’s former self are wiped from Instagram, the brand’s striking new look enters the world.

But this time it was different. Burberry’s new identity – the second in five years – speaks as much to the past as it does to the present, with recently appointed creative director Daniel Lee opting for a heritage-inspired logo that even touches on British patriotism, that most contentious of topics.

Much of the immediate reaction has focused on Burberry’s choice of typeface, a delicate serif and a deliberate contrast from the heavy san serifs that have become de rigueur for most luxury brand refreshes (even for Burberry’s in 2018, designed by Peter Saville during Riccardo Tisci’s tenure). Burberry joins a cosy group of brands that have instead modernised with serifs, which includes Ferragamo and Daniel Lee’s former employer Bottega Veneta.

The move could simply be Burberry finding a strategic difference to its competitors (it’s still a brand refresh, just not like most of the others). It could also be a sign that the luxury zeitgeist is becoming less interested in the shock of the new. If the latest Lyst Index is any kind of barometer, then Balenciaga falling from its mainstay top position to a paltry eleventh might indicate an emerging rejection of contemporary edge and cultural controversy. It’s certainly something to be tracked further.

But the bigger story here is Burberry rekindling its Britishness – a vital part of the brand that, under Tisci, was somewhat lost or at least obscured and made unclear. The New York Times’ Vanessa Friedman reminds us how Tisci’s version of Burberry Britishness included, “deer ear prosthetics, backless trench coats, and a video inspired by a love affair between a mermaid and a shark”.

Speaking to Vogue Magazine back in December, Lee shared his vision: “Burberry flies the flag for Britishness and for the UK and for culture”. This can be seen in Lee’s decision to rekindle Burberry’s Equestrian Knight Design flag, a motif that dates to 1901 and was last used to identify the brand in the noughties.

It cannot be ignored that these decisions come amidst a challenging cultural backdrop – that of Brexit Britain, and a time when Britishness continues to stir divisiveness and a collective discomfort owing to the country’s colonial past. As rapper Slow Thai’s album title reads, “Nothing Great About Britain”.

But the thing is, for luxury brands, national identity often plays an important role – in how they build provenance, origin stories, and their brand personality, which sometimes sees them soak up traits of their nation’s character. As abstract as it sounds, it’s likely to be eternally true that Gucci and Prada possess an innate Italian-ness.

Even when modernising, legacy luxury brands, on some level, will need to think about their relationship to their country of origin. Indeed, there are recent signs that in Britain – both in politics and within the brand world – new conversations are being had about what Britishness means in 2023 and beyond.

In what we’ve seen so far, Burberry is bringing fresh answers to this tricky question. Its roster of new ambassadors are a big part of this. In the relaunch campaign, shot by Tyrone Lebon, we see rappers Shygirl and Skepta, footballer Raheem Sterling, and the models Liberty Ross and Lennon Gallagher. And apparently more is to come. Burberry’s CEO Jonathan Ackroyd has told The Times that, “Daniel is thinking hard about who are the icons of Britain today, he’s got some really exciting ideas”.