Banality in the brutalist National Theater

It’s been a rough few months for the house of Burberry, Britain’s one true global superstar luxury brand, and judging from the collection it showed on Monday, one shouldn’t expect the turbulence to end any day soon. 

After several brutal sessions on the London Stock Market, Burberry invited guests to the lobby of the National Theater, ironically a monument to New Brutalist architecture with its sullen shapes and raw exposed concrete walls. Just two weeks ago, after its market cap had fallen precipitously, Burberry was taken off the prestigious Footsie 100 listing of the biggest companies – after a 15-year presence.
 
That bad news came a month after Burberry had announced the sacking of its CEO Jonathan Akeroyd, after barely two years in the job. His axing followed another disappointing quarter in which sales plunged 20%. His successor, Joshua Shulman, is a highly seasoned luxury executive, who has held CEO positions at Michael Kors, Coach and Jimmy Choo. Shulman will need all that experience and more to right the ship at Burberry, even as the company injects significant fresh blood into its ranks. Including Jonathan Kiman, an American-born former Gucci and Versace exec, who was named chief marketing officer, and Laura Dubin-Wander as president Burberry U.S.

But in luxury, any executive is only as good as the talent they manage and the product they retail. And, quite frankly, this was an extremely modest collection, unlikely to ignite a stampede into the boutiques of this 168-year-old retailer.
 
No one is questioning the innate talent of Burberry’s British-born creative director Daniel Lee, but the complete lack of a wow-factor in this show left one gasping. Lee can cut a very noble suit – Gareth Bale looked great in a languid city gent chalk stripe blazer sitting from row, but his experiments with the parka and trench – the heart of Burberry – all seemed forced, contrived even. 

See catwalk

Elongated parkas with one too many belts, buckles and grommets. Floppy lived-in trenches, shoulders overburdened with feathers. Mini capes ending well up the torso, and shorter at the back.
 
For guys, plaid jumpsuits and cargo pants with strange zips down the front of the legs; often paired with scrunched up leather jackets.
 
For evening, Lee finally produced a head of steam with some great burnished sequin cocktails finished with satin ruffles or metallics party frocks that had lots of kick. But they failed to save a show, which never gained any momentum, as the cast kept wandering behind gray concrete walls. 
 
Lee is a famously avid theater goer. Even in his previous job when based in Milan designing Bottega Veneta, he would come back several times a month to London to attend multiple plays and spectacles. Which explains why he was so excited to show inside the National Theater, though perhaps not in its lobby.
 
Even the addition of legendary UK artist Gary Hume, who installed a series of large matt green cut-out wall hangings seemed rather redundant. Albeit his current exhibition at 7A Gallery on Grafton Street – for which Burberry hosted a cocktail on Sunday night – is pretty sensational.
 
At least Lee did show some great bags: hefty saddle bags in raw suede; dark brown revamped fisherman’s bags or over the shoulder intreccio messenger versions. All of them finished with broad straps in various cool new shapes of plaid and tartan. 
 
Though this could not save a collection and show that for some puzzling reason ended without a proper finale, leaving the guests rather confused. As few, if any, actually applauded.
 
In a word, don’t expect folks to stop shorting Burberry stock any day soon.