A Very British Night Out
Review of Burberry Fall 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
On the final day of London fashion week Burberry, and its Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee, marked 170 years of its British heritage by turning its gaze on the city that shaped it. Against a theatrical set featuring a twinkling replica of Tower Bridge and a rain-slicked runway that mirrored the capital’s perpetually grey skies, Lee reframed the house’s outerwear legacy through an after-dark lens. With appearances from longtime Burberry muse Edie Campbell and Romeo Beckham among a diverse cast, the collection pulsed with the contrasts that define London’s cultural make-up. Here Lee was influenced by the spark that is lit when heritage, youth, the unpolished and the prim and proper collide.
Proving that in a city obsessed with the weather, few are better equipped to dress for it than Burberry.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Life After Dark, Elevated Evening, Sublimely Sleek
It has become somewhat of a humorous past-time for the British to constantly talk about the weather. Far from it being their favourite subject, many Brits will consider it their birthright to either moan or marvel about what the clouds are up to on any given day. It can also be an easy conversation starter and lead to the formation of life-long friendships. And for a British heritage house that built its foundation on the outer layers that protect us from the elements, the city’s grey skies became a fitting main character – and colour palette – for today’s fall 2026 show. One which marks the 170th anniversary of the house.
Having spent his first few seasons exploring what the contemporary Burberry customer will want to wear to their countryside idle, Daniel Lee shifted focus to the city of London. A city that has inspired many a literary scholar (Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf) to weave their stories of seeking fame and fortune, or navigate daly life, in and around ‘The Big Smoke.’
A giant replica of Tower Bridge that lit-up and twinkled, a runway slick with the ubiquitous rainy-day puddles, original Burberry muse Edie Campbell, and an appearance by Romeo Beckham collided to create a pulsing collection that celebrated the city. The diverse casting of today’s show could have been seen as a true reflection of London as a melting pot of cultures and influences. And these characters were who inspired Lee this season. Not just those who inhabit the wealthy enclaves of Kensington and Chelsea, but the outer boroughs too, where many of the cooler front row guests hail from.
The designer channelled the pulse of the city and the way it comes alive after dark. From revellers heading out on a night bus – or Hackney carriage as they are lovingly known – or a chauffeured car service this contrast is what creates the spark of creativity between heritage and youth, social class, and the generations.
For fall, outerwear was reframed though the concept of ‘Glitched Classics’ according to today’s notes. With the collection exuding an elevated elegance silhouettes were stripped back, particularly in menswear which was pivoted into an eveningwear proposition, going beyond mere functionality. Bombers were rendered in fur-patterned checks or heavy satin, parkas over-printed with a map of the city, trench coats in London fog-coloured leather, and winter white shearlings and double-breasted funnel-neck coats that would only be suitable for the aforementioned chauffeur service. This was all styled back with an creative take on the babushka in leather.
On the womenswear side, there was the desire to create trench coats cut into easeful shapes, so as to enable them to be thrown on at the end of the night. Likening this to ‘trenches worn like accessories,’ this reflected how Londoners get dressed, unbothered by formalities or strict dress codes. An element of dishevelment can always set apart a native from the city. Refining his Burberry woman down to a chicer, sexier version of herself for fall, trench coats were decorated with ruffled collars, checks became jacquards, long fur coats were finished with beaded fringing, and cascading bugle-beads mimicking rainfall trimmed trousers, while satin dresses were cut on the bias to give its wearer the fluidity to float from one event to the next.
THE WRAP UP
Though it operates in the luxury space, Burberry has been hard at work democratising it’s brand to once again appeal to the aspirational consumer, and reaffirm its place at the top of the British luxury landscape. In the last five years their portrait series platformed Pearly Kings and Queens, experiential pop-ups have placed play at their heart and encouraged all to dwell (albeit in check-branded spaces), a capsule celebrating the festival season featured iconic Brits (Alexa Chung, Goldie, Liam Gallagher) frolicking in the mud, and viral sensation Bemi Orojuogun aka Bus Aunty was tapped for a “Back to the City” campaign. Winning over many former critics and shoring up Daniel Lee’s tenure so far with the brand, a turnaround that was reflected in a return to growth in 2025.
Today, the Chief Creative Officer presented a collection that placed less focus on clothes for everyday endeavours and approached fall with a greater emphasis on the sleek and the chic. Definitively more stripped back, what was missing were a few moments of exuberant energy, either in material, palette, or silhouette. But when taken as an invitation to consider Burberry from a solely eveningwear perspective, Lee is asking that we re-look at the brand as an elevated option for life after dark.
