Top Row and Bottom Left: Goth Denim from Riccardo Tisci’s final Burberry Spring 2023 Womenswear Collection. Bottom right, Tisci and models at Burberry Fall Winter 2021 Womenswear Presentation.

Riccardo Tisci’s departure from Burberry is not unexpected — and none of the rumblings questions around Tisci’s design talent of vision. The question involved much more the continuation of his edgy and goth aesthetic at Burberry — the look that brought him great notoriety and success at Givenchy.

Most creatives and fashion writers don’t engage themselves in a brand’s financial performance. Loving a collection is all that counts. Choosing words that should not be misconstrued by readers, Vogue’s Sarah Mower queried the strategic wisdom of Tisci’s “border-free, non-nationalistic points of view.”

The Guardian came close to raising the same issue, when Marco Gobbetti resigned in June 2021, to return to Italy as CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo. None of us seriously consider The Guardian to be anything but a progressive, left-leaning newspaper. And yet, they also raised the issue of Tisci’s lack of Britishness in the Burberry brand.

“Burberry is Britain’s only major luxury fashion brand. This means that a Burberry catwalk or shop window is as much about selling an appealing image of modern Britain as it is about designing clothes. Backed by Gobbetti, Tisci has brought to Burberry the uncompromising, hard-edged aesthetic he pioneered during his previous job at Givenchy. . . . It is quite a stretch for a British luxury brand, where bread-and-butter sales come from investment coats that hang in corner offices and in the cloakrooms or expensive restaurants, and polo shirts worn in smart golf clubs.”

Finding ourselves in agreement with both Brits, AOC took a look at Burberry’s revenue growth or lack of it under Tisci. There is no financial confirmation — even allowing for Covid — that his Givenchy vision applied to Burberry generated positive financial results. Yes, Burberry definitely became one of the cool kids, but it should be understood that the brand lost many of its existing customers, who moved on to other brands — none of them as uniquely British as Burberry.

If Christopher Bailey’s Burberry was beginning to plateau after a solid run in 2019, revenues have floundered ever since. LVMH doesn’t break out sales by luxury brand, but posts nearly a 50% increase over the same period. No business can continue Burberry’s financial performance compared to those of other luxury brands, without changes in the C-Suite.

The breakup comes on the heels of Tisci’s good friend Ye [formerly Kanye West] breaking up with the Gap. Kanye similarly sought to put his style, values, fashion vision derived from God on the Gap. And while Riccardo Tisci doesn’t court controversy the way Kanye did — and still does — there were many moments when we were clueless as to how his collections resonated under a Burberry brand umbrella and to current customers. Based on their financial performance, in non-Covid times, Tisci’s collections treaded water financially at Burberry.

Hopefully, this very talented designer will find a new situation that allows him to fly in a more unfettered design space. Meanwhile, there is every reason to be excited about Daniel Lee’s arrival at Burberry.

On Wednesday, Mr. Lee said in Burberry’s statement that he was very excited to be returning to London.

“It is a city that champions pioneering creativity and that continues to inspire me,” he said. “Together with the team, we will write the exciting next chapter for this legendary British luxury brand.”

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