Daniel Lee turned to the U.K.’s indie-pop scene for ideas, but we got quite something else

Last week, when Melania Trump was in the U.K. to accompany her husband to attend the state dinner at Windsor Castle, she emerged from Air Force 1 swathed in a Burberry trenchcoat. The make of the outerwear was almost certain. What could be a more sartorially savvy diplomatic move than to don a 169-year-old name that has not quite decided whether it want to be a luxury brand or not. Besides, she made sure that the lining of the coat showed: the unmistakable Burberry check. That Melania Trump had possibly previewed Burberry’s upcoming collection, just as she positively did for Carolina Herrera, showed how her outfit wasn’t just a random fashion choice. Her fans said that by wearing it upon her arrival, Mrs Trump immediately paid respect to the host country.

The irony of it all is that the spring/summer 2026 collection Daniel Lee put out in London yesterday was not quite conceived for first ladies. Or women travelling the world with their high-profile husbands who are determined to ram a spanner down the existing world order. But, apparently, the paradox is intentional. Burberry has been explicit about its strategic plan to regain its position as a top-tier luxury brand. The core of this strategy, called “Burberry Forward”, involves a fundamental re-centering on the brand’s British heritage and its iconic core products, primarily outerwear and accessories. Mr Lee himself has spoken at length about his vision, and it aligns with the seeming two-pronged approach we saw: create a modern “Britishness” that is both relatable and progressive while being underpinned by tradition.

And what can amp up Burberry’s Britishness more than to pivot the collection to British music, especially the indie band scene? That, in itself, is not entirely revolutionary, since Hedi Slimane has been mining similar genres and resultant aesthetics for years, at Dior Homme, Saint Laurent, and Celine. But it was the Birmingham quartet Black Sabbath’s ’70s rock (the show opened with Planet Caravan) that provided the soundtrack, not quite the indie cool we somehow led ourselves to believe would be the vibe of the show. It was turned out, as is noted online, a nuanced understanding of Britishness and its musical heritage. What was on stage was, however, less Villanelle’s Gene Gallagher, and more the tourists on Oxford Street trying to look immensely cool. Or, was Mr Lee going beyond cultural references that tend to pendulum between the often-London-centric or Manchester indie scene?

The soundtrack, along with the outdoor, earth-toned runway with clothes of dusty hues, evoked the feeling of a British music festival like Glastonbury. It’s a mise en scene where luxury isn’t about being prim and certainly not proper, but about being able to wear a classic Burberry trench in a muddy field and still look cool. The articles of clothing associated with such events—slouchy parkas; mini-dresses; relaxed cargos, bleached denims, skinny scarves, wellington boots—are all in the show. Nothing you can’t find in British high streets. The aesthetic has been described as “quiet rebellion” because it didn’t resort to rock ‘n’ roll tropes. It looked to working class roots in Birmingham. And the models’ glum expressions could be a reflection of the compensation for their runway suffering. The thing is, Glastonbury comes but once a year.

Screen shot (top) burberry/YoutTube. Photos: Burberry