For those in London, it is a familiar sight: landmarks sheathed from view in tarpaulin hoardings or edged with scaffolding, ready for months-long renovations and repair (memorably, Big Ben’s Elizabeth Tower was hidden away for five years, its spruced-up clockface revealed in full in 2022).
This evening at London’s Old Billingsgate Market, Daniel Lee played with the idea of a city ‘in construction’ for his latest Burberry show, presenting the A/W 2026 collection amid a recreation of London’s architecture – most notably, the recognisable neo-Gothic spires of Tower Bridge – deconstructed into toy-like blocks and wrapped in scaffolding. Across the rubber floor, resin puddles ‘echo London’s rain-soaked streets’, while low lighting and black velvet seating capture what Lee calls an ‘after dark’ mood.
A first look at Burberry’s ‘under construction’ A/W 2026 show set
(Image credit: Burberry)
Lee, who has been the house’s creative director since 2022, said the show’s design reflects the distinctive energy of the city – one of ‘work-in-progress and constant evolution’. Indeed, the Yorkshire-born designer – who studied at London’s Central Saint Martins before roles at Phoebe Philo’s Celine and Bottega Veneta – has sought to put Britain’s creative energy and evolving traditions at the forefront of his vision for Burberry.
‘You walk down the street and you’re surrounded by people from so many walks of life, all living together,’ he said after his first runway show in February 2023. ‘There is great music here, great theatre, great art. I want to shine a light on those things and show a positive side of Britain to the world. That’s something I missed in recent years and that’s what I’m trying to celebrate.’
(Image credit: Burberry)
Over the course of his tenure so far, he has drawn inspiration from British music festivals and period dramas; collaborated with the Royal Ballet on costumes; worked with artist Gary Hume on the set for his S/S 2025 show at the National Theatre; as well as cast a slew of notable actors and musicians in his campaigns and runway shows (these have spanned Richard E. Grant, Skepta, Vanessa Redgrave, Mary Berry and Barry Keoghan, among several others). This evening’s show will mark the first time Burberry has shown at Old Billingsgate Market, which is a London landmark in its own right. Constructed in the 19th century on the banks of the Thames, it would go on to become the largest fish market in the world.
With the A/W 2026 collection itself – soundtracked on the runway by longtime collaborator, DJ Benji B – Lee says he wanted to capture the ‘ease with which Londoners put together an outfit’. The house’s trench will remain central, appearing in new deconstructed iterations and evolving into eveningwear, while a black and white palette, interspersed with rich inky blues and purples, ‘gives the effect of something a little more sophisticated, dressier, cleaner or sleeker’. ‘[The collection] returns Burberry to the city and to going out in a particularly London way,’ says Lee.
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(Image credit: Burberry)