For its new Autumn-Winter 2024-25 campaign, Burberry is returning to its English roots and the good old days. Entitled It’s Always Burberry’s Weather, this communications operation showcases its outerwear, far beyond the trench coat… with the humor and British phlegm of prestigious ambassadors from pop culture and sport to boot.
This season, Burberry is taking steps to restore its battered desirability by talking about rain or shine… well, especially rain, if we think of the fickle climate across the Channel and the outburst of extreme weather phenomena that are hitting the world hard today. With its iconic cotton gabardine trench coat, Burberry seems historically relegated exclusively to “raining like cats and dogs” days.
With It’s Always Burberry’s Weather, the tartan brand proves otherwise, showcasing the full diversity of its outerwear offering in romantic, gamey or simply picturesque natural settings.
For the occasion, the House is taking to the country roads with a high-flying cast likely to bring together old and new, Millennials and Gen Z first and foremost.
Britishness on the comeback trail
The epitome of British culture, Burberry had until now somewhat forgotten its rural origins and proudly English spirit. Indeed, the departure of Christopher Bailey in 2018, which sparked a veritable Burberry Mania around the trench coat on the networks and in stores – leading to a whole flood of cheap copies in fast fashion – had given way to proposals with a less aristocratic and more streetwise allure.
Outerwear, Burberry’s core business, was essentially a walking billboard under the leadership of Italian Riccardo Tisci, sporting an all-over tartan that only the chavs -hooligans of the 1980s- had dared to wear. At the time, the Burberry silhouette was essentially a punk, protest… and above all, urban manifesto.
But that was without counting on the arrival in September 2022 of British designer Daniel Lee, determined to restore the brand’s roots, starting with its famous Equestrian Knight logo and one color: blue.
In the It’s Always Burberry’s Weather campaign , Britishness is expressed as much through the clothing as through the design elements and the profiles of its ambassadors.
One of these is Barry Keogan, star of the film “Saltburn” (Amazon Prime). In this film, his character is a “down-and-out” who becomes a megalomaniac by murdering members of his “adopted family” one by one. The finale features a viral victory dance in a dark, empty mansion, to the tune of Sophie Ellis Bextor’s hit “Murder on the Dancefloor ”.
After this very Gen Z figure, the brand conjures up memories of the Christopher Bailey years, dear to Millennials, in particular with supermodel Cara Delevingne, whose tongue is literally firmly in her mouth.
But Burberry is also steeped in the tradition of the “Royal Warrant” (title of official supplier to the Crown), a title acquired as early as 1955 by the brand, veteran of the trench warfare era, and regularly renewed ever since, whether for the late Queen Elizabeth II or the current King Charles III. So, if you can’t afford the presence of an official crowned head, why not opt for its televisual double? Olivia Colman, Oscar-winning actress (La Favorite, 2019), producer, comedian and second incarnation of Queen Elizabeth II in the series The Crown (seasons 3 and 4), thus seems more than appropriate as a Burberry ambassador.
To continue the inter-generational connection, what could be better than two soccer players – a veritable religion across the Channel – with the figures of Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze. Other celebrities playing the game include 25-year-old Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi and 30-something rapper Little Simz.
Finally, Britishness is expressed in one of the campaign videos, via the rehearsal of a Shakespearean play on a café terrace, over a full English Breakfast or via the Nova Check tartan of its scarves and coat linings.
In the land of Barbour
In addition to the visual campaigns, each ambassador also benefits from a mini video, the length of which depends on his or her notoriety and importance in the brand’s loyalty-acquisition strategy. While most ambassadors get less than a minute to tell their stories, Barry Keoghan, Cara Delevingne and Olivia Colman get much more.
In addition to the names of these renowned performers, each of the capsules is named after an outerwear item available for sale.
The challenge for the British fashion house is to showcase the full range of its outerwear offering. In addition to the high-profile trench coat, the range includes Harrington jackets, quilted jackets, parka jackets, down jackets and woollen-skin bomber jackets.
Burberry brought Olivia Colman to play in a cinematic story based on sleeping problems, literally crossing the path of sheep… to be counted in the middle of an English cottage, first and foremost to hunt in the lands of another brand honored by her majesty: Barbour. The brand, which celebrates its 130th anniversary this year , has always played the rural card in its campaigns.
Despite being 38 years younger than its predecessor, Barbour has nonetheless enjoyed unparalleled visibility, even being worn daily by Queen Elizabeth II, to the point of being featured in some memorable sequences in the series The Crown, for the scenes depicting the Balmoral and Windsor estates.
While Burberry reminds Millennials of the 2000s with a Cara Delevingne making her way through the peaceful waters of Little Venice, London, Barbour relies on another fashion icon of this generation: Alexa Chung.
The waxed or quilted jacket is to Barbour what the trench coat is to Burberry: a signature piece. Yet, unlike Burberry, which chose to leave its historic stronghold of Basingstoke to set up its HQ in London, Barbour has retained its grassroots roots, maintaining its headquarters in the small coastal town of South Shields, in the North-East of England.
Commenting on the campaign, Burberry Artistic Director Daniel Lee said: “ Burberry is about protection, functionality and the great outdoors. We’re always inspired by our archives and the brand’s innovation and creativity. The campaign highlights the silhouettes of the house: protective and sustainable”.
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Featured Photo: © Burberry
