Burberry unveils ‘Friends and Family’ creative series for pre-collections

Burberry is re-thinking its pre-collection format with the launch of a new creative series, ‘Friends and Family,’ where chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci partners with “inspiring creatives from unexpected backgrounds” for each pre-collection.

The first collaboration for its pre-autumn/winter 2022 collection is with model Lea T, a friend of Tisci, who has featured in Burberry campaigns and walked the spring/summer 2021 catwalk show.

“I wanted to explore a different experience bringing my collections to life, so I have decided to open up my pre-collection to a new creative voice each season. Someone special to me who inspires me and whose unique creativity surrounds me in my personal life,” explains Tisci in a statement. “Creativity means freedom and it is about empathy and communication with others. It is your voice, your identity, something inside you which you want to share with others. So, I was excited about the conversation that would happen when our creative worlds come together and see how their interpretation of my identity comes to life.”

Tisci describes Lea T as “my family, my love,” and someone who can “balance fierce femininity and an effortlessly gentle romantic softness,” and added that he chose her as his first collaborator for her connection to animals and nature.

The pre-autumn/winter 2022 collection celebrates “style and identity, togetherness and freedom, nature and the outdoors,” explains Burberry, and includes themes surrounding adventure and discovery, while offering a modern twist on the Burberry house codes.

Burberry’s Riccardo Tisci partners with Lea T for pre-autumn/winter 2022

The collection delves into the outdoors, with new oversized silhouettes with reconstructed details for its signature outerwear, inspired by a “youthful and fresh interpretation of classic utility and exploration styles”. This is seen on silk twill short-sleeve shirts, wool skirts and T-shirts featuring the British Isles, mirrored globe and Burberry monogram map prints.

Highlights for women include a trench reconstructed as a bib, in a patchwork of beige and neutral shades and new interpretations of the car coat in soft fawn and the deep fern green tropical gabardine with cape details.

There are also technical hiking-inspired jackets, from nylon and rib-knit hybrids to a trench-inspired short parka with a zipped panel and down-filled styles adorned with geometric stitching and diamond-quilted barn jackets.

For men, there is a camel tailored overcoat appliquéd with a botanical sketch print, worn with a wool and cashmere hooded jacket and wide-leg trousers, and a bomber jacket with accents of black leather and a cut-out Thomas Burberry monogram.

Exploration styles include a dark olive poncho worn over a reconstructed car coat with a drawstring waist, while map prints adorn cotton sweaters and organza T-shirts, and knitwear has been elevated with cable-knit sweaters featuring crystal embellishments and a dark truffle brown wool sweater with cut-out details.

The outdoorsy feel also runs through to the footwear with chunky, rubber-soled hiking style sneakers with net detail and colourful laces.

Commenting on collaborating with Burberry, Lea T said: “I have been working with Riccardo for many years and it was a great experience to do it from a new perspective this time because this creative series brilliantly highlights the people surrounding the creator who produced those clothes. Through this, Riccardo undresses himself and shares a new interpretation from someone close to him and he does that with great respect for their vision.

“Today, Burberry is like a big window, a place where you can be free to build and a space to create wonderful things. Looking at the history of the brand, I see interesting things that can be linked to an urban life, but also the desire of those who escape to the wonderful woods of England. It’s the respect for this nature and one’s own nature that I wanted to explore, even if it goes outside the canons created by this society in which we live. It is essential to dare in life as long as we always respect our own nature.”