For Spring/Summer 2020, Riccardo Tisci reworked Burberry's classic design codes, marrying its Victorian roots with luxury streetwear.

When Thomas Burberry founded his outfitting business in 1856, Victoria was queen of England, and women wore dresses with tight bodices, buttoned fronts, and high necks—decorated with lots of lace. Menswear was tailored, fitted, and jackets often reached to mid-thigh. Those are the elements that Burberry’s chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci drew upon for the label’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection, all the while pushing the English heritage label straight into the future.

Tisci cinched a Burberry check suit jacket tightly, using stripes to accentuate the smaller waist. A corset served as the starting point for a beige minidress, while frilly white lace tops got the streetwear treatment via ‘Burberry’ spelled out in bold, black letters. Several dresses had the lace, high necks and ruffles of the Victorian era, with Tisci using them as sheer layers over short minidresses. One dress, framed with black lace ruffles, with illustrations of monkeys, served as an ode to Charles Darwin.

Burberry Spring/Summer 2020 was thoroughly modern. Tisci incorporated several more streetwear elements—rugby shirts became oversized, hoodies and button-up shirts came in striped tie-dye prints, and the menswear featured baggy logo t-shirts, while playing up tailoring in the loose-fitted suiting. For women, the classic Burberry trench became larger, and ruching accentuated the curves of the body, while fringe gave minimal, tailored looks a dose of playfulness.

Although Tisci clearly drew inspiration from the period during which Thomas Burberry made his name, the Burberry of today is all Tisci’s own.

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