Riccardo Tisci announces Burberry link up with Vivienne Westwood

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jul 6, 2018

Designers do love the unexpected. In a major surprise, the house of Burberry has revealed it will launch a limited edition collection with iconic British designer Vivienne Westwood.

Burberry has created collections with other independent designers, most notably its 2017 partnership with Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy. However, a major league global brand linking up with a master couturier from the same country is exceedingly rare.
 
Tisci broke the news on Burberry’s Instagram account with a black and white photo by Brett Lloyd of the Italian creative director with Westwood and her husband and her house’s creative director Andreas Kronthaler.

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“It’s a one-off project, destined to come out in early December. It’s a capsule collection, and still a work in progress. In effect, a tiny wardrobe, Westwood for Burberry,” Kronthaler told FashionNetwork.com.
 
While on Instagram, Tisci wrote: “Vivienne Westwood was one of the first designers who made me dream to become a designer myself and when I first started at Burberry, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to approach her to do something. She is a rebel, a punk and unrivalled in her unique representation of British style, which has inspired so many of us. I am so incredibly proud of what we will be creating together.”
 
He also tagged his post in support of @CoolEarthAction, the anti-deforestation movement.
 
In a separate Burberry release, the UK plaid brand said it would be a collection of re-imagined iconic styles, in celebration of British style and heritage.
 
Westwood, who first leapt to fame designing for the legendary SEX shop on the King’s Road, went on to be the great architect of punk fashion in the 1970s, even if throughout her career she has been hailed for her unique ability to fuse historical fashion into contemporary styles. In 2006, Queen Elizabeth made her the Dame of the British Empire, in recognition of her unique contribution to fashion.
 
“There will be iconic pieces of the punk era – pulled into today. It will not be nostalgic. Riccardo and I met a couple of months ago, and then Vivienne and I spoke and she loved the idea,” added Kronthaler, reached on his mobile phone as he searched for locations for the next runway Westwood in September in Paris. 
 
“Riccardo  is really working hard getting his first Burberry collection together. He is very talented and I believe in this Brexit climate this project shows everyone how fashion should be and has to be,” added the Austrian-born Kronthaler, who helms a fashion house that was the most outspoken against the Brexit referendum.