Riccardo Tisci Explores Duality for Burberry Pre-Fall 2020

Burberry unveils its Pre-Fall 2020 Collection Campaign starring Irina Shayk and Reece Nelson, where creative director Riccardo Tisci ventures deeper into his exploration if the concept of duality.

‘I have always been drawn to the notion of duality and viewing things from two perspectives – bringing a depth and contrast to a person or a concept. This campaign explores this idea of mirroring, a theme which I established as a house code in the new Burberry identity.’ – Riccardo Tisci.

THE CAST

REECE NELSON
“I see duality as two opposing things that are complementary to each other. Yin and yang in other words. Without wrong would there be right? I always tell myself that there is good in bad, so whenever I am experiencing difficult times, I try my hardest to stay peaceful within, since I know there is a positive outcome of the situation. This is just a stepping stone for living a righteous life.”

IRINA SHAYK
‘I think that duality is the essence of the nature of a woman. A woman finds strength in her weakness, brings hope even to the darkest hour, makes life easier and more complex. I definitely relate to this dual nature of a woman and of life itself, with its sophistication and simplicity. That is what I also love about this collection, it is truly special. It is simple and chic, and is dedicated to a modern woman. In every piece I felt like a woman who is important and unique, and I was wearing the clothes, as opposed to letting the clothes wear me. That is the true beauty of Riccardo and the new Burberry.’

DANKO STEINER
‘I love working with Riccardo and it always amazes me how his inspiration for each project comes from very different and unexpected sources, be it art, music or real  life, but it always ends up looking very much of his own world with his precise vision. In relation to this campaign, I have always been drawn to the concept of duality and repetition in art, from the early Renaissance diptychs and triptychs that broke out of a single frame to tell a story. We wanted to experiment with this idea of duality and repetition with Irina, Reece and their respective doppelgängers to bring the energy of an open-ended diptych portrait to a single frame.

’ANA STEINER
‘Working with Riccardo is always a joy, and this time was just as exciting to build this collection as a perfect wardrobe. It’s fascinating to see how any of Riccardo’s collections as a whole or the amazing pieces themselves, always have a very strong identity and are unmistakably his own. This played strongly into the campaign, as I found the concept of duality and repetition very inspiring. It brings into play one’s identity, as clothes are often instrumental parts of that play. Something familiar when mirrored becomes strange. I have fond memories of this campaign as I remember there was extra excitement and celebration in the studio as this was everyone’s last shoot before the New Year’s holidays. All of us laughing, hugging, kissing goodbye – all so much missed these days.’

ISAMAYA FFRENCH
‘Every aspect of life is created from a balanced interaction of opposite and competing forces – being comfortable with different aspects of your personality can help you adapt to whatever life throws at you. We played on this idea of duality in the campaign with doppelgängers for Irina and Reece. Creatively, this was a really interesting brief as we paid attention to the smallest details on elements such as eyes, eyebrow thickness and subtle contouring, etc. It was a really fun experience as we made the models as similar as possible.’

GARY GILL
‘To me, I relate very much to the idea of duality as it reveals the different aspects of a collection, which in turn sets a vision of strength within a brand. I articularly loved the Monogram prints and the luxurious, chic subtle nod to streetwear in the collection. Irina Shayk, as a modelling icon, was such a sweet and professional person to work with and I loved being introduced to Reece, a rising star in the industry’.

Credits: © Courtesy of Burberry