It's become almost a given that a brand would look outside of its own homeground for celebrities and personalities who embody what it stands for. The world isn't confined to just one country or continent, after all. Burberry realises this, already tapping into a globally diverse range of faces and bringing them into the fold as brand ambassadors.
One of Burberry's brightest ambassadors is Bright Vachirawit. The Thai actor has been a constant presence in almost all of Burberry's activations around the world as well as its runway shows in London. It's no surprise then that Bright has grown to be accustomed to London, its people, and of course, its weather.
In the brand's extension of its "Burberry Outerwear" campaign, Bright stars solo as he regales about his experiences in London and waxing lyrical about the undoubtedly "Burberry weather" of the city and its romantic nuances. His outerwear of choice to tackle the unpredictability of London is none other than the Burberry trench—a piece that in essence, is ubiquitously London.
ESQUIRE SINGAPORE: What does London mean to you?
BRIGHT: Burberry makes London special to me. Every time I'm here, it's always with Burberry—they make it feel like a second home.
ESQ: Was London how you expected it to be the first time you visited?
B: It was better than I had expected. At first, I thought it would be sad and maybe moody. But when I got here, it was moody—but in a beautiful way. It made me feel romantic in some way.
ESQ: What was the weather like?
B: The weather was cold and windy, but sunny. I'd heard of the "British weather"!
ESQ: What item of clothing do you always rely on when you're in London?
B: London weather is always unpredictable. You need something that can protect you from all conditions while looking effortless, like a Burberry trench coat.
ESQ: What do you enjoy doing when you're in the city?
B: I love going to bars at night to see live music, and going to football stadiums. Every time I travel, I like to experience as many stadiums as I can. There are a few more I'd love to go to in London.
ESQ: How would you describe Londoners?
B: People in London are so friendly. The way they dress is very classic. It's not just in fashion, but it's part of the culture and the rich heritage; it's the way Londoners dress themselves.
ESQ: What were some of your most memorable moments from the Burberry Outerwear shoot?
B: The entire shoot was very memorable for me. It was another great opportunity for me to work with new people. It was a truly impressive new experience. If I had to choose one moment, it would be the time we cruised along the Thames River on the boat. The vibe was really good and it was a time when you get to see the city, its scenery, and interact with everyone on the boat. It was truly a memorable time.
ESQ: What is “Burberry weather” to you?
B: I think “Burberry Weather” is... a little gloomy sky with unpredictable weather. Never too sure if it’s going to be sunny or rainy. It also reminds me of cool air but windy. And a sense of cosiness. This is why I love a Burberry trench. It protects me from those kinds of weather.
ESQ: What's the best drink to have in rainy London?
B: Tea is good. A cup of earl grey tea will freshen up the moment.
ESQ: You have visited London for a few times with Burberry. What's your favourite seasons and why?
B: I like how it is in February. It's still very cold, which I enjoy. I get to play with my wardrobe, layering up with clothes, outerwear, scarf, and accessories. It's a time of year with weather we don't have in Thailand.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
There have been plenty of articles attempting to critically analyse Burberry's current strategy—both creatively as well as from a marketing standpoint. It has become a continuously profound struggle for Burberry, a heritage brand that has been experiencing a sort of fall from financial grace for years now, to find that balance between being fashion-forward and desirable.
The Burberry Summer 2025 runway show proved that chief creative officer Daniel Lee has perhaps found that balance after almost two years of steering the brand back to its British roots. Noticeably, there were a few design elements that Lee initiated in his first few collections that he's now seemed to forgo this time around. The Burberry Check is back in its original rendering after seasons of being skewed at an attempt to modernise the motif, while the revived Equestrian Knight Design (EKD) wasn't as prominent.
Lee likens the collection as a continuation of Winter 2024. "An easy elegance that feels inviting for summer. We want the pieces to feel welcoming, and for the wearers to feel confident," he says. Cue the much softer approach in terms of fabrications, treatments as well as colour palette—as though to say that these pieces are indeed wearable and easy enough buy into.
The fit: A lot of the Burberry Summer 2025 collection's focus is on the military aspects of the brand's heritage. It's evident from the overall swathe of pastel, washed out and weathered colourways that Lee's intention was to highlight Burberry's more utilitarian functionality. The collection's outerwear pieces remained key grounding elements and inherently made the collection Burberry. This time, trench coats were reconstructed into asymmetric jackets, a couple of slightly cropped iterations as well as multi-pocket field jacket versions. They were all season-appropriate—crafted in lightweight silk, linen or bonded wool.
The zipped elements from Winter 2024 made a return on the runway. They were featured on a number of zipped trousers styled open at the knees to further accentuate the roominess of the cut. Where pockets weren't adorned with weatherproof flaps, zipped details reinforced utilitarian elements as well as versatile styling proposals.
Overall, the collection excelled at reimagining Burberry house codes without needing to shout with bold graphics or an overuse of branded signatures and motifs. Silhouettes felt easy to wear with chic simplicity apparent throughout the collection. In some cases, perhaps, they were too simple in execution, especially when broken into individual pieces. Together though, the styling felt the most Burberry that Lee has crafted thus far.
The details: A complete overhaul of the bag offerings seemed to be intentional. The collection saw introductions of completely new styles all designed to be unlined and relaxed. The Country comes as a crossbody, bucket bag and tote in grainy leather with the Burberry Check, while the B Clip—named after its b-shaped front fastening—is a new messenger bag, tote and holdall in tumbled leather and suede with the addition of a rather stunning Burberry Check style in patchwork leather.
Three exceptional looks: The super chic opening look styled almost like a regal, royal officer; look 32's classic Burberry Check rendered in a deep hue for a truly utilitarian ensemble; and the timeless silhouette of look 47.
The takeaway: Lee has found a balance between his own leanings and Burberry's Britishness—how open customers will be to adapting remains the brand's challenge.
View the full Burberry Summer 2025 collection in the gallery below.
Burberry is the final big-named house on the London Fashion Week calendar and it's poised to bring some newness. Unlike previous runway shows by chief creative officer Daniel Lee, the Burberry Summer 2025 runway show will be staged indoors as opposed to the brand erecting a tent. Lee has also enlisted English artist Gary Hume to design the set of the show.
There's been a consistent Britishness about Lee's creative direction at Burberry—rooting designs on the Equestrian Knight Design (EKD) seen above, reimagining Burberry's trench icons, as well as silhouettes that lean on familiar English heritage. It's highly likely that Lee will continue to do so, especially with teasers focusing on "born of function, grounded in heritage". The Burberry check is probably set on making a more prominent design element—but how that will look like remains to be seen.
For confirmation of what the Burberry Summer 2025 collection will look like, stay tuned for the show this Monday live from London Fashion Week.
What: Burberry Summer 2025 runway show
Where: London
When: Monday, 16 September 2024 at 11pm Singapore time
Nostalagia hit the runway at the Burberry Winter 2024 show. Not only was the show's soundtrack a selection of Amy Winehouse's songs—"You Know I'm No Good", "In My Bed", "Half Time", and "Back to Black"—the show was opened by Agnyess Deyn. And if you were in your teens in the 2000s like me, Deyn would be a familiar name and figure—an English model known for her platinum blonde pixie cut and a fashion inspiration for girls and boys of the time.
The fashion served a similar platter of nostalgia. Chief creative officer Daniel Lee refocused his attention towards the military heritage of Burberry for the Winter 2024 collection with a colour palette that captured the earthy tones of the outdoors. Now that the new brand signifiers have been put in place—the Equestrian Knight Design, the Burberry knight blue and key bags emblematic of Lee's creative direction—its the coats that were reworked with a further military slant.
The fit: Trench coats took on new forms both in silhouette as well as the way they were worn. Instead of belting to accentuate the waist, the belt was tied from the back for a more minimal front. The collar was turned up and buttoned up to create a funnel neck (practical for the colder seasons). The trench coats were also dressed with the oversized epaulettes that were first introduced in Lee's debut collection for Burberry, as well as new keyring hardware that zipped up the front of the coat to the storm flap. The latter an example of Lee's penchant for decorative hardware at Burberry.
There was a decidedly oversized silhouette employed throughout the collection, exuding a sense of warmth and protection that Lee intended. But also, an extension of a signature British aesthetic prevalent on the streets.
Duffle coats and field jackets took on more voluminous forms as they were either crafted from fleecy wool or trimmed with a burst of braided fringing. Zippers on these outerwear were extended to trousers too, with each side consisting of three zipper pulls to allow for creative manipulation. They're reminiscent of those trackpants lined with buttons along the sides that were a big part of the noughties, but here, the attention was front and centre.
The details: On the bags front, a variation of the Trench Tote bag seemed to be a key push. Constructed with zippered sides, they were available in a number of materials with the standout being the ones featuring the Burberry check. And if I'm being honest, a more superior version that the original. The Shield bag, on the other hand, received a more functional upgrade with an exterior compartment.
While the knight blue wasn't part of the colour palette, it wasn't completely stripped from the Burberry Winter 2024 collection—its Lee's coloured signifier for the brand, after all. With every step of each model, the colour peeked through from the soles of every footwear. Not that we need to be reminded of how much that colour is now a part of Burberry (there's a whole knight blue takeover of Harrods that's still going on), but perhaps it's one of those subliminal messaging cleverly employed.
Three exceptional looks: Look 7 had the makings of being the next go-to fit for every British renegade youth; the easy and comfort-first look 19 with that plush mustard vest; and look 48's moleskin trench that's cool in every way.
The takeaway: I'm inclined to say that this is the best Lee for Burberry collection yet.
View the full Burberry Winter 2024 collection in the gallery below.
A new collection by a newly installed creative is a big deal, especially when it’s coming out of a storied fashion brand like Burberry.
When chief creative officer Daniel Lee’s debut collection was shown earlier in February during London Fashion Week, there was no denying that Lee’s visual aesthetic for Burberry took a stark departure from his predecessor’s, for which the overall consensus had been that it lacked Britishness for a quintessentially British brand.
While Lee’s collection only began rolling out into boutiques and online in September (that’s a seven-month wait if you’re counting, granted select clientele were given early buying access), the brand had already been releasing campaign visuals progressively. It had been introducing a new Burberry visual vocabulary to act as a sort of palate cleanser before Lee’s vision physically materialised in its entirety. But visuals can only do so much, particularly at a time when people are inundated with a constant flow of them from every direction. And let’s face it, we’ve devolved to have such short attention spans that any clip over 30 seconds is likely to get scrolled past.
Enter Burberry Streets.
The street takeover series was first launched in London for a week in September, coinciding with the Spring/Summer 2024 edition of London Fashion Week. Burberry was serious about the takeover and went as far as to partner up with Transport for London to allow it to temporarily rename Bond Street station to Burberry Street station, including recolouring the roundels in knight blue—Lee’s colour signifier for Burberry. At the same time, North London’s Norman’s cafe played host to a special Burberry menu, had its interiors refurbished with the new Burberry icons, and made its run around London via a food truck.
But that’s only the tip of it. Burberry Streets is conceived to be a travelling series of takeovers around the world, with Seoul and Shanghai as planned stops thus far.
It was in Seoul that we bore witness to how the Burberry rose print and the revived Equestrian Knight Design (EKD)—two key visual elements of Lee’s first collection—peppered the entire city, especially along the hip Seongsu-dong. A precinct that used to house shoemakers and leather factories, Seongsu-dong is now considered one of Seoul’s artistic districts where galleries and cafes are found next to existing manufacturing hubs and warehouses. There’s a certain grittiness to the area, punctuated by colourful graffiti. The campaign saw Burberry Streets take over the space for an entire month, ending on 5 November.
Murals, billboards, flags and awnings featuring the Burberry rose print motif stretched across a 10-minute walk along Seongsu-dong. They seem to be presented at random. At one point, the motif sat right atop the sign for an operational leather workshop, while EKDs were spray-painted on roads. But they all pointed in the direction of three Burberry pop-ups.
The first (depending on where one set out) was at Seongsu Shoe that’s dedicated to all things footwear from the Winter 2023 collection. At the other end was the bright yellow Seongsu Bottle, featuring the colourful hot water bottle accessories that are emblematic of the collection. Both were planned as micro pop-ups to flank the main Seongsu Rose pop-up—a massive space drenched in tarp emblazoned with the rose motif. It was here that visitors got to experience Lee’s debut collection in its entirety. Imagined within a “Petal Maze” installation, the collection is segmented into categories—bags, shoes, menswear, womenswear, accessories and more—encouraging visitors to explore each English rose-inspired element of the installation to get better acquainted with the new Burberry.
To underscore the Britishness of the entire takeover, Burberry brought over Norman’s for a dedicated pop-up right next to Seongsu Rose, serving up an all-day selection of British classics. And of course, also introducing a sliver of Norman’s interior to those unfamiliar with it.
The beauty of the Seoul takeover lay in that it was a visual feast of all things Burberry under Lee, exuberantly integrated into its local surroundings. The rose motif and the EKD stood out, yes. Yet they felt like artwork that you would typically find at Seongsu-dong.
It certainly helped too that the opening event of Seoul’s Burberry Streets takeover was attended by a curated list of Korean celebrities and creative figures. Fans came in droves, armed with their mobile devices and some professional camera equipment as they readied themselves for appearances by the likes of Lee Dongwook, Lee Jongsuk, Seventeen’s Wonwoo, Burberry ambassadors Bright and Jun Ji-hyun, and of course, Lee himself.
Let’s just say, every photo taken by every single fan that evening would have included their favourite idol dressed in Lee’s Burberry and with the hard-to-miss rose motif in the background. Need we say more?
There was no doubt that Burberry chief creative officer Daniel Lee's first showing for the British brand was a stark departure from predecessor Riccardo Tisci's.
The debut—a collection that we're finally able to experience in boutiques now—was a return to Burberry's Britishness, replete with elements and motifs ripped from Lee's lived experiences as a Brit as well as from the brand's archives. The Burberry check was rendered at a slant and blown up (a simple but effective way of modernising the brand signifier) and the Equestrian Knight Design (EKD) revived as a complementary branding device.
For the Burberry Summer 2024 collection, Lee continued to reimagine the brand's heritage with an even more focused lens. Building a new visual vocabulary for a brand like Burberry is no mean feat. With the second runway collection, we're starting to see the fruits of that labour.
If the Winter 2024 collection was a foundational collection that at times may have seemed a bit chaotic—a mallard beanie and a cacophony of visuals ranging from roses to more mallards to the EKD—the Summer 2024 collection felt more intentional and evolved. Surprisingly, the latter was more subdued and less colourful than the debut. In fact, the 'knight blue' that Lee has adopted for Burberry was little to be seen on the runway.
The fit: The overall colour palette for the collection was relatively quite dark. Instead of knight blue, colours graduated from black to a dark green before branching off to richer hues.
Yet, at the same time, prints were a key focus of the collection. What appeared as though vintage scarf prints lifted from the Burberry archives were actually prints of metal hardware in the shape of a horse—part of the Knight bag introduced for Winter 2023—and chains. Similarly, a repeated motif of the clasp of the Rocking Horse bag too appeared as a print. Both prints adorned a number of ready-to-wear pieces, including a new take on the classic Burberry trench. Lee's intent was to reimagine the trench for the summer and that included making it more lightweight than ever—in look 47, the trench could be seen hung by the neck simply by a thin chain.
What I especially liked about Burberry Summer 2024 was how Lee doubled down on the brand's military past. And while that could have resulted in quite costume-y creations, the ready-to-wear looked simply at home. Epaulettes on shirting as well as outerwear extended well beyond the shoulder line, while the trench coats cut a sharp, regimental silhouette while still retaining a sense of modernity with a dropped waist and exaggerated belt.
The details: Lee may have kept the tailoring sharp but he injected off-kilter semblances in the styling as well as accessories. The collection's slip-ons for example (looks 41 and 45) were doused in rhinestones with the EKD fixed like one would a Crocs Jibbitz. Leather loafers were crafted with an extended leather buckle in the shape of the Burberry Shield bag and topped with the EKD. It's these constant details that help drive the message of the new subtle visual vocabulary of Lee's Burberry.
Three exceptional looks: The ease and simplicity of look 16's black fit embellished with cleverly printed trousers; look 23's printed coordinates that could easily be broken up into pieces that could stand on their own; and look 45's new take of dressed up casual in classic Christopher Bailey-era hues.
The takeaway: Burberry is back to being refined with doses of unexpected quirks—a truly Brit aesthetic.
View the full Burberry Summer 2024 runway collection in the gallery below.
