BURBERRY #SS23
• Spring/Summer 2023
- April 1, 2023
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8,531
A celebration of the body, of the beach, and of Burberry. Outfits for men and women marry notions of sensuality and sensibility – outerwear and pieces inspired by underwear, swimwear and lingerie are laid atop one another then sliced away, in outfits that interlace the decorative and the functional.
The Burberry trench coat inspires, always. Its gabardine is washed, used for skirts and jackets gently gathered at the back. Sleeveless, for men and women, it is given a summer sensibility; while in leather it cross-pollinates with biker jackets, each borrowing details from the other.
The form of swimsuits fuse into full-length dresses – bodysuits integrated, emphasised through cut-outs around the midriff. Short dresses fasten into bodysuits with trains while, in menswear, swimsuits are combined with trousers, folded over to become decorative details at the waistband.
Menswear juxtaposes sport with the sartorial: precise tailoring laid against loose streetwear styles, relaxed wide-leg trousers and sweatshirts, and T-shirts reconfigured and twisted around the form, a new type of body-consciousness. Fragile lace and tulle layered into a menswear sphere, softening.
Layering is fundamental – bodies are covered with embroidered tulle catsuits and fishnet dresses, foundations to delineate. Windows are sliced through, offering curious glimpses beneath cutaways, porthole details and insertions of transparencies. Lace is constantly present, seductive and sensual, in multiple patterns, colours and scales – underscoring a fascination with lingerie, worn along or intreated into outwear, inlaid into precise tailoring in a game of revelation.
Inspired by the seaside, details are boldly inflated, a playful ode to the water toys and flotation aids of childhood. As always with Burberry, dichotomies and contrasts excite – these innocent games combine with the most sophisticated craft in a series of elegant velvet evening gowns, proposed in a technical velvet to afford them pneumatic padded proportions, an idealised hyper-femininity. They embrace a dignified formality yet innate modernity.
BAGS
A new bag debuts in the Spring/Summer 2023 collection, proposed in a variety of leathers and maxi-scale crystal embellishments. Featuring zippered pockets and a statement circular zip-pull, it is proposed in a compact size, hand-held by models. Alongside, a new style slides onto the arms to mirror flotation devices, underscoring the seasonal theme, executed in smooth calfskin or whimsically inflated in rubber.
The Burberry Catherine bag, soft yet structured with a logo-embossed front pocket, is proposed as an oversized tote. It appears alongside Burberry’s Lola, both of their shapes utilised as canvases for explorations of materiality – leather and fabric, embossed and perforated, in colours synced with the identity of the collection.
SHOES
Inspired by summertime, shoes riff on the thong sandal, offered in flat and heeled versions. A simple and classic silhouette, framing the foot, they are proposed in myriad different finishes, fabrics and textures. For day, they are offered in luxurious leather, their signature Y-shaped strap exaggerated when executed in inflatable rubber. Some sport a wide ankle strap with technical detailing, inspired by the strap of a surfboard. Other iterations are proposed studded with crystal or pearls, or in all-over crystal
embellishments sometimes used as a texture to form the dark birch brown House Check. They also bear charms or talismans: shark’s teeth, or a TB charm.
ACCESSORIES
Function becomes decoration. The valves of inflatable life vests and flotation aids are cast in silicone and silver to form rings. Shark’s teeth, cast in metal, resin or silicone, become rings or decorate footwear as a new form of jewel; the shape of the same animal is used for drop earrings and to shape the arms of sunglasses. In a Surrealist game of displacement, swimming goggles become jewellery, their original forms set with crystal embellishments or strung together like cabochon jewels.
Sun hats and sun visors are reiterated in a symphony of materials: lace, leather, sheer and transparent sustainable PVC. Classic hair bows are padded, exaggerated in proportion, proposed in black velvet or dark birch brown House Check.
KEY PRINTS
The Burberry House Check in dark birch brown is a key motif, combined with new interpretations of the Equestrian Knight Design, here used as an all-over repeat print embroidered or flocked into a new form of lace. Classics are twisted: polka dots appear in vibrant hues but are also reinterpreted in chain-button embroidery, perforated leather or through macro eyelets. Broad stripes recall beach lounging chairs.
KEY COLOURS
The hues of the heritage of Burberry: pale beige gabardine, dark birch brown. Shades of the sea: deep slate blue denim, cobalt and bright opal blue. Lingerie shades of lotus pink, yellow and duck egg blue, contrasted with red and marigold. Charcoal greys and a goth rainbow of black to provide graphic contrast, like stark shadows cast in strong summer sunlight.
KEY FABRICS
Nature and nurture, the technologically advanced and the hand-crafted. Burberry gabardine, washed to give a new softness, sunburned and washed-denims, washed-jersey and rib. Fluid fabrics, fine wools, glossy viscose jerseys and wet-look coated fabrications. Crushed silks and technical velvet. Embroidered and flocked Equestrian Knight Design lace, athletic mesh and fishnets of different scales open on the body.
