In summer, in Britain, the beach is a place of democracy, of community. It is where people from all cultures can join together for simple pleasures. I wanted to translate that ideology – that emotion – to an entire collection. I wanted to express that spirit of togetherness and joy, that reality.
The collection is inspired by the beach as a place where humanity meets, a point where different worlds collide. That tension between dressing and undressing, between revelation and protection, underwear and outerwear, all feels relevant to now and part of Burberry’s modern DNA.
This season, we explored a new sensuality – a consciousness of the body. I was inspired by the liberation and openness of youth, of people embracing their bodies and revealing them – a pride in themselves, who they are, and their identities. Their freedom. This feels modern, this feels right, and this feels Burberry.’ Riccardo Tisci, Chief Creative Officer
Community. Unity. Spirit. Burberry has always been fascinated by these notions, by openness and freedom, of connection and inspiration.
For his Spring/Summer 2023 collection, Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci draws inspiration from the British seaside – not cliffs, sand, or shells, but rather the beach as a crux of society, a crucible of humanity. The beach is a point of convergence, where different worlds join and mix in pure enjoyment of and communion with nature. The beach is a place of community, of liberation.
As a beach is a meeting place of diverse facets of society, the collection explores our different ideas and ideals of Britishness through dress – youth and experience, the intimate and the public, the raw against the refined. The mingling of contradictory sensibilities leads to energizing contrasts in ideology and physicality.
The temperamental British weather and, in turn, the temperament of the British people, inspire an approach that celebrates notions of layering, of both concealing and revealing the body, of clothes dynamic in their potential for revelation. The body‑conscious lines of swimwear influence the silhouettes of elongated dresses and are carved into the garments themselves. Denims are sunburned and Burberry trench coats are deconstructed to open spaces onto the body.
Fantasies of Britishness are reinterpreted, and viewed with fresh eyes, different contexts, and new realities. The incongruity of a Gothic figure fully dressed in black on summer sands; the surreality of an evening gown on the beach; a rose – the symbol of England – stripped to its thorns.
Inspired by the seaside and recontextualized within London – Burberry’s heart and home – this collection embraces the idealism and realism inherent in a quintessential British attitude. The Burberry Spring/Summer 2023 runway show was accompanied by soprano opera singer Nadine Sierra and the London Contemporary Orchestra, performing a specially commissioned piece by Paul Mealor.
