London Fashion Week 2020: Burberry’s surreal catwalk show kicks off in an undisclosed woodland location amid Covid-19 pandemic

Sep 21 , 2020

Burberry’s nautical-themed clothes in a woodland setting launch a truly surreal London Fashion Week amid the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Burberry via Reuters

Riccardo Tisci’s models strutted through dense woodland in a collection the designer claims was inspired by ‘a love affair between a mermaid and a shark’

London Fashion Week kicked off on Thursday (September 17) in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic with Britain’s Burberry putting on a live virtual display of its latest collection.

A model presents a creation from the Burberry Spring/Summer 2021 Collection during London Fashion Week. Photo: Burberry via Reuters

The brand’s chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci presented his spring-summer 2021 collection In Bloom on video streaming service Twitch, a first for the British fashion house that – like countless others – has had to adapt its runway show as a result of the pandemic.

While there were plenty of models gathered to showcase the collection, rather than featuring a catwalk, the surreal show, produced with the help of artist Anne Imhof, was set in a gorgeous wooded location.

Mermaids and sharks were part of the inspiration for the new collection. Photo: Burberry via Reuters

“It began with a thought of British summertime; embracing the elements with a trench coat on the beach mixing with the sand and the water,” Tisci, who joined Burberry as chief creative officer in 2018, said in a statement.

“I envisioned the people of this space, like the lighthouse keeper, and a love affair between a mermaid and a shark, set against the ocean, then brought to land,” he added, saying the circle represented regrowth, renewal and life.

Tisci’s trench coat embraces the elements of a beach “mixing with the sand and the water”. Burberry/Handout via Reuters

The collection featured trench coats, fisherman-inspired bib-front trousers and sheer-chiffon trousers detailed with printed shorts.

Like other fashion houses, Burberry has been hit hard Covid-19, with sales in its first quarter down 45 per cent. The company has said there will be no quick recovery, despite sales returning to pre-Covid-19 levels in mainland China in June.