Burberry’s new campaign is photographed by Mario Testino

Burberry’s in-house team have launched a campaign shot by Mario Testino to celebrate the fashion house’s first straight-to-consumer collection.

Burberry has dropped a preview of its first straight-to-consumer collection, to be presented at London Fashion Week on 19 September, and announced a partnership with The New Craftsmen.

The fashion house revealed two images from its new ad campaign featuring looks from its upcoming September collection. Shot by Mario Testino at the sculpture gallery within Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the images reveal new British cast members Jean Campbell, Cavan McCarthy and Alex Dragulele donning styles from the brand’s new SS17 collection, which is influenced by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando.

The ad campaign will be revealed in its entirety from 19 September and run until February 2017 across outdoor and print advertising as well as all Burberry online platforms. In celebration of the highly crafted new collection, the campaign also includes a series of portraits of Burberry artisans, also captured by Testino.

Burberry Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Bailey says: “This campaign reflects a collection inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and also sets out to honour the many skilled craftspeople who work on Burberry’s iconic products. I am therefore very proud to be sharing Mario Testino’s incredible portraits of Jean Campbell, Cavan McCarthy and Alex Dragulele, which we have set alongside portraits of our talented Burberry artisans”.

As announced in February, the SS17 collection will be available for purchase immediately after the Burberry show. The inaugural straight-to-consumer show will also be the first time the label presents its womenswear and menswear collections together in an effort to shorten traditional gaps between the runway show and retail availability.

Further adding to the experience, Burberry has partnered with artisanal retailer The New Craftsmen to bring the collection to life for visitors at the new Burberry show venue at 1 Manette Street in Soho. The partnership, launching on the evening of the Burberry show, will see some of Britain’s finest craft makers create and experiment using the collection’s inspiration as starting point through a daily changing programme of activities and installations.

“Just as Virginia Woolf’s Orlando is both a love-letter to the past and a work of profound modernity, this week-long exhibition aims to nod both to the design heritage that is so integral to Burberry’s identity, and to some of Britain’s most exciting creators, and the innovation and inspiration behind their work”, explains Christopher Bailey. The exhibition will be open for visitors from 21-27 September.

Creative Director | Christopher Bailey
Photographer | Mario Testino
Models | Jean Campbell, Cavan McCarthy and Alex Dragulele
Stylist | Elliott Smedley
Hair | Sam McKnight
Makeup | Wendy Rowe

Picture credit: Burberry/Mario Testino