Moves in mysterious ways
News that Burberry is to replace its outgoing chief design officer, Christopher Bailey, with Riccardo Tisci broke while a large group of fashion journalists were on the Eurostar to Paris on Thursday to see the shows there. A deep pall of gloom descended on the carriage.
It’s not that the 43-year-old Italian isn’t talented – some of his collections at Givenchy, where he reigned for 12 years, were beautiful. But his aesthetic – extremely etiolated models draped in fabulously expensive neo-goth outfits
à la Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
– is hardly inclusive. At least not in the way that fashion is now beginning to talk about inclusivity – in terms of making clothes for women of all shapes and sizes. Nor could it be further in spirit from the soft, Modern British Heritage tradition that fuelled Burberry’s tremendous renaissance over the past 17 years that Bailey was in charge.
In fairness, Tisci, who in person is smart and charming, may be capable of a much richer, broader purview than the one he repeatedly rehearsed at Givenchy. He has lived in the UK (working as a branch manager for Monsoon) so understands at least some of its foibles. He was also an early champion of gender diversity, championing the transgender model Lea T.
It’s worth remembering too, that while he was at Givenchy he transformed a small, ailing house – albeit one with a famous name – into a thriving concern. Much of its income was derived from sales of T-shirts and collaborations with sneakers brands such as Nike, but what else was Tisci to do. “When I first arrived at Givenchy, people would turn up very late because they had almost given up,” he told me.
He left there last year amid expectation that he would take over at Versace, whose rock-and-raunchy sensibility seemed a natural fit with his own (he is best friends with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) and where Donatella Versace had always been a loyal supporter. But they couldn’t agree terms.
So now Burberry… where he could do wonderful things with the trench coat, which has always been Burberry’s central pillar. His cutting, tailoring and know-how with leather is impressive. He can also design wonderfully filmy, delicate chiffon blouses and dresses when he turns his mind to it. He loves roses – thanks to him they ran riot across the Zara shop floors a few years ago, when the high street referenced his Givenchy collections. How British are roses?
And while he was at Givenchy, there were a couple of years when its Antigona bag was a must-have – an outcome for which all fashion brands, including Burberry, pray, but rarely achieve. The £719-million-a-year Burberry, whose sales are down, could really do with some hit accessories.
But does it need Tisci? The industry had been hoping for Phoebe Philo. The Brit turned Céline into a powerhouse – and the label to which women of all budgets looked for inspiring clothes they could also wear. Even if they couldn’t afford Céline’s stratospheric prices, they knew the high street would produce myriad copies: Philo has been one of the most influential designers of the past decade but announced her departure from Céline last December. With Marco Gobbetti, Céline’s former CEO now in charge at Burberry, it was assumed Philo would follow him.
But fashion CEOS work in mysterious ways. Tisci it is. It will be an interesting ride.