Review Of Burberry Fall/Winter 2021 Collection

Pandemic restrictions seemed to have sharpened Riccardo Tisci’s focus, with the designer trading in his earlier sprawling coed shows for a tighter, more compelling edit. Fall/winter 2021 marks his first solo womenswear outing at Burberry. Inspired by the single mother who raised him and his eight sisters, it was Tisci’s tribute to femininity, to both the strength and the softness of womanhood—the goddess and the warrior woman, mother nature and the feminine divine.

Tisci continued where he left off for spring/summer 2021. Instead of his pre-pandemic approach of trying to be something for everyone, this collection zeroed in on what Tisci does best—Italian sensuality and glamour blended with an English eccentricity and offhandedness. The results felt more personal and less beholden to Burberry’s tradition and heritage. The series of trench coats that opened the show, cut up and reconstructed, were a convincing example of Tisci reconciling both brand and designer DNAs.

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Elsewhere, there was breezy scarf dressing that nodded at freedom and flags. The classics that make up such a huge part of the Burberry heritage, such as tailoring and outerwear, have been transformed by Tisci—blown-up and cut away, studded and shredded, or pieced and panelled. A series of high-impact looks, in draped and cinched gold, were offset against Burberry beige. Tisci also returned to his fascination with the animal world—most evidently and irreverently with the shaggy bunny-eared hoodies and bags.