Burberry turns 170 and has decided to celebrate its anniversary by moving away from an exclusively retrospective look at its archive. The British firm has taken to the streets of London, New York, Seoul and Shanghai to photograph 170 people and use their way of dressing as an expression of individuality and personal style.
The campaign, titled “170: The Anniversary Portraits”, is based on the company’s own history. It’s been 170 years since Thomas Burberry began developing durable clothing intended to protect its wearers from the unpredictable British weather. This functional origin now serves to vindicate the ability of its designs to remain current and adapt to different generations, contexts and ways of dressing.
Photographer Jack Day signs the portraits and has posed the photographs from a natural and relaxed register, using available light and keeping each protagonist visually linked to the streets of their own city.
The selection mixes residents chosen from the streets themselves with names linked to music, art, sports, gastronomy or literature, as well as members of Burberry’s international team. The intention is to show how the same garment can take on a different appearance and meaning depending on the person wearing it.
Original post on profile @Burberry on Instagram
Among the 170 protagonists are the K-pop artist Crush; theater director Jamie Lloyd; model Lila Moss; fashion figure Lisa Love; footballer Nico O’Reilly; NBA player OG Anunoby; chef Ruthie Rogers; dancer Tan Yuanyuan; actor Xin Shuang and volleyball player Yeonkoung Kim.
“For 170 years, our outerwear has adapted to the climate and our way of dressing,” explains Daniel Lee, Creative Director of Burberry. “Each portrait is different, but together they capture individuality and personal expression.”
Original post on profile @Burberry on Instagram
Ten garments to trace the evolution of Burberry
The other axis of the campaign are ten outerwear designs that allow us to explore the technical and aesthetic evolution of Burberry. These include pieces from its Heritage Collection, such as the Long Kensington trench; the classic-cut Long Waterloo coat; and the Camden, a mid-length, single-breasted men’s coat.
The company also establishes a dialogue between these historical designs and the new garments they have inspired. These include a Kensington jacket made of burgundy nappa leather, a women’s version of the Long Kensington in cashmere, and the men’s Hastings coat in gray. mélangewhich will be part of the firm’s upcoming collections.
The choice of the street portrait thus allows Burberry to articulate the anniversary around two ideas that have accompanied the brand throughout its history: the permanence of its codes and its ability to adapt to the wearer. Faced with a celebration focused solely on recovering images from the past, the campaign uses the archive as a starting point to show how its garments continue to integrate into different styles, generations and cities.
