Daniel Lee: From Leather to Weather

From Leather to Weather

ÉPOPLI · 2026-10-10

Daniel Lee photographed by Tommy Ton in 2019.Tommy Ton · by-sa/4.0. Resized and re-encoded as JPEG; no retouching. · Source · Rights

An outer layer that describes a season

Daniel Lee’s Burberry history starts with a coat’s surface rather than its logo. For Winter 2024, familiar outerwear appeared in moleskin, wool and leather. A recognizable collar and fastening acquire different visual weight when light meets a smooth hide or a softer woven surface. The inherited outline remains legible while its seasonal character changes.

This is a useful way to look at his work: compare material, shoulder width and belt placement before treating every variation as a new category of clothing. Photographs reveal shape and sheen, but cannot establish weight or weather resistance on their own. The move from Italian accessories to British outerwear becomes clearer when the comparison begins with physical objects rather than slogans.

[6]

Learning inside other studios

Born and raised in Bradford, he studied at Central Saint Martins. Official appointment records list experience at Maison Margiela, Balenciaga and Donna Karan, followed by Celine in 2012, where he became director of ready-to-wear design. Daniel Lee’s Burberry history therefore has a substantial prehistory in studio work, not simply a sudden arrival as a public creative director.

A team position does not prove that every garment released during that period was his individual invention. Those earlier credits should be separated from collections he later directed. His 2018 appointment at Bottega Veneta gave him responsibility for an established house and the opportunity to connect accessories, shoes and clothing through a more comprehensive material vocabulary.

[1][2]

Two ways to give leather volume

The Pouch, introduced for 2019, gathered supple leather around the opening of an oversized clutch. Folds and volume registered before a conspicuous metal logo. The Maxi Cabat, presented alongside it, reconsidered an existing woven bag. These objects form a useful prelude to Daniel Lee’s Burberry history because they show leather craft operating through contrasting structures.

The clutch concentrates attention on a gathered edge; the woven bag repeats strips across a surface. Neither apparent simplicity means simple manufacture. Selection, cutting and assembly make the designer’s proposition tangible. Leather craft depends on those workshop decisions as well as an overall idea. Comparing the two bags also helps explain how softness can remain visible without making every product look alike.

[3]

Leaving one house and joining another

Kering described the 2021 departure as a joint decision to end the collaboration. An undisclosed reason should not be filled with invented conflict. The 2022 appointment and first 2023 runway collection mark the institutional beginning of Daniel Lee’s Burberry history. Here he inherited familiar checks, outerwear and equestrian references rather than an empty identity.

British identity involves people and places as well as recognizable symbols. Clothes associated with rain, city streets and country life must also make sense to customers elsewhere. Transferring the volume of an Italian handbag directly onto another label would not answer that problem. Nor can every business result be attributed to a single design decision; a collection’s visual argument and a company’s commercial performance are different kinds of evidence.

[1][4]

Summer lightness, winter shelter

For Summer 2024, the trench coat appeared in lighter gabardine, with roomy proportions or a belt positioned at the hip. Floral and fruit motifs and new Horn and Swan bags suggested another seasonal register. Daniel Lee’s Burberry history also placed British identity beyond a single national landscape: this campaign was photographed in Jamaica.

The winter collection moved toward layered field jackets and shearling-lined duffles. Beside summer’s looser lines, these pieces show that a change of season can involve construction and volume rather than colour alone. Tyrone Lebon photographed the campaigns; Arthur Williams made the winter film. Their credits matter because a finished fashion image combines design direction, location, photography, performance and editing.

[5][6]

The narrower lines of 2026

Summer 2026 introduced a neater silhouette, short jackets, slim ties and mohair-wool tailoring. Daniel Lee’s Burberry history includes that shift away from heavier-looking protection. New rainwear drew on a detail from a 1927 archival coat. Foil-finished denim and glossy surfaces made dampness a visual effect, which should not be confused with a technical claim about waterproofing.

Twiggy appeared in the music-oriented campaign, photographed by Sam Rock with artistic direction by Lane & Associates. Those credits distinguish a creative director’s role from the work of an entire image-making team. The tactile attention familiar from leather craft also extended to crochet, beads and reflective surfaces. How a material catches light becomes part of how movement is perceived.

[7]

A role verified, a method still developing

Official Summer and Autumn 2026 material checked on 10 October 2026 identifies him as Burberry’s chief creative officer. The autumn Leadenham and ruched-hem Tillydrine coats were presented for movement between town and country. Daniel Lee’s Burberry history can include these documented projects without speculating about future appointments or unannounced ventures.

A productive reading begins at the fold: the Pouch’s gathered opening changes the relationship between hand and bag, while a trench coat’s belt and hem mediate between body and weather. British identity becomes an edited relationship between materials, locations and people. Separating inherited forms from new adjustments gives the reader more to examine than a broad claim about heritage. Campaign narratives and product records illuminate one another, but neither substitutes for the other.

[8][7]

Timeline

2012 — Joined Celine
2018 — Became creative director of Bottega Veneta
2019 — The Pouch and Maxi Cabat introduced
2021 — Collaboration with Bottega Veneta ended
2022 — Appointed chief creative officer at Burberry
2026 — Directed Burberry Summer and Autumn collections