Burberry’s British Heritage Gets A Sexy, Sophisticated Italian Makeover

For Spring/Summer 2020, Riccardo Tisci reworked Burberry’s classic design codes, marrying its Victorian roots with luxury streetwear. When Thomas Burberry founded his outfitting business in 1856, Victoria was queen of England, and women wore dresses with tight bodices, buttoned fronts, and high necks—decorated with lots of lace. Menswear was tailored, fitted, and jackets often reached to mid-thigh. Those are the elements that Burberry’s chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci drew upon for the label’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection, all the while pushing the English heritage label straight into the future. Tisci cinched a Burberry check suit jacket tightly, using stripes to accentuate the smaller waist. A corset served as the starting point for a beige minidress, while frilly white lace tops got the streetwear treatment via ‘Burberry’ spelled out in bold, black letters. Several dresses had the lace, high necks and ruffles of the Victorian era, with Tisci using them as sheer layers over short minidresses. One dress, framed with black lace ruffles, with illustrations of monkeys, served as an ode to Charles Darwin. Read more at Document Journal.