Riccardo Tisci’s playful and subversive eye gives new life to England’s most cherished heritage brand, Burberry.
BY MAX BERLINGER
PHOTOGRAPHY STELLA ASIA CONSONNI
STYLING THOMAS LIAM DAVIS
For an industry obsessed with the future, fashion can’t help but get caught up in the past. Brands that cast the longest shadows - those with the most formidable legacies - are often the ones with the most respect, not to mention the biggest profit margins. And yet there’s always a new generation of les enfants terribles ready to dismantle what came before them, to tear it all down, rip it apart and then lovingly rebuild it with an eye for contemporary tastes.
Few people are better at this task than Riccardo Tisci, the Italian fashion designer who previously reinvented the French label Givenchy, using the brand’s rich legacy as a foundation to bring haute streetwear to the luxury sector. His graphic T-shirts, nods to athleisure, and embrace of sportswear in the high-end world were revolutionary. Some people clutched their pearls and tsk-tsked such a movement, but many others - mostly young people - discovered that the posh label suddenly spoke to them in a language they understood innately.
Now he’s Chief Creative Officer of the sprawling heritage brand Burberry. Since taking the reins, he’s been looking at the label, synonymous to many with British fashion, and reimagining it for the digital age.
“Both professionally and personally I also hope people would remember me for being a champion of inclusivity. This has been something close to my heart from the very beginning, I grew up feeling like an outsider and this made me passionate about not letting anyone ever feel left out. There should be no barriers because of race, sexuality, age or anything else - and it is something I continue to champion in everything I do both personally and professionally at Burberry.”