Burberry Announces 'Phygital' Spring 17, 2021 Fashion Show Outdoors in London

Burberry has announced plans for its co-ed spring 2021 collection presentation as a digital event scheduled for September 17, 2020. The fashion show promises to merge the real and virtual worlds with a “live physical presentation that’s open for all to experience digitally.”

Acknowledging Burberry’s long heritage around nature, chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci shared that the show will appear outdoors. Burberry’s fusion of the physical and digital experiences makes is the rare “phygital” show on the schedule so far.

 “As humans, we have always had a deep affinity to nature. We have had to respect and rely upon its power for our very existence, whilst marveling and reveling in its extraordinary beauty. Especially recently, we have all yearned to reconnect again and for this show, I wanted to celebrate these feelings by bringing our community together in a creative experience that takes place within the beautiful, natural landscape of Britain,” writes chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci in a release. As with all of Tisci’s Burberry runway events, The statement explains, this one will be carbon neutral (though it’s important to note that the metric is the subject of debate), writes Vogue.com. Burberry will rely on an offset through Burberry’s Regeneration Fund

There will be no star-studded front row at this year’s event. Burberry’s decision to avoid the challenges of social distancing, crowd control and international travel may be an indicator of how other brands will handle these challenging topics.

London Fashion Week is not only under pressure from COVID-19.

Environmentalists have made the London presentation the one most aggressively challenged by environmental activists criticizing the climate unfriendly waste of long haul flights, chauffeured cars galore and endless street style shoots designed to create in-the-moment street style, digital content.