Riccardo Tisci is shaking things up at Burberry, taking the quintessentially British fashion house on a new and exciting journey. As we get closer and closer to his big debut in September, we’re getting more of a flavour of what’s to come.
Back in May, Tisci, who was previously at Givenchy, teased a #BClassics collection via Instagram to his 2.3 million followers. In the same post, he said, ‘I wanted to celebrate the beauty, heritage and legacy that I discovered when I first arrived at Burberry. ‘B Classic’ is an edit that I’ve curated to honour the icons of the House – pieces like the trench coat, the quilted jacket, the car coat, the kilt.’
Tisci wants to make it clear that he is preparing to celebrate British style and heritage — hence his decision to invite British fashion royalty, Vivienne Westwood and Creative Director of the brand, Andreas Kronthaler, to re-imagine a collection of key British pieces, which will launch in December 2018.
The famous trench coat, a staple at Burberry, is to be remixed with Westwood’s patchwork styles and construct.
‘Vivienne Westwood was one of the first designers who made me dream to become a designer myself and when I first started at Burberry, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to approach her to do something,’ Tisci said in a statement on why he chose to work with the celebrated original British rebel.
‘She is a rebel, a punk and unrivalled in her unique representation of British style, which has inspired so many of us. I am so incredibly proud of what we will be creating together,’ Tisci said of Vivienne’s strong activism throughout the decades, having turned her into a national icon. In 2006, the Queen exchanged Vivienne’s OBE to a DBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for her work and support for the British fashion industry.
Taking her politics everywhere, the collaboration between the two British houses will be in support of Cool Earth Action.
Matthew Owen, Director of Cool Earth, told ELLE that this opportunity will ‘mean more people will hear about Cool Earth’s mission to work with local people to halt deforestation and its effect on climate change.’
This is not the first time that Vivienne has come together with Cool Earth, back in 2011 she visited their partnership in Peru to show support and witness the change they are making. ‘Cool Earth has worked closely with the Vivienne Westwood team on everything from providing rainforest jewellery for her Gold Label to an exclusive T-shirt design supporting Cool Earth that goes on sale this month,’ Owen revealed.
Tisci will unveil his debut collection for Burberry in September as part of London Fashion Week.
FROM: ELLE UK
