Supreme’s still got it: Burberry drop causes chaos in London

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Supreme has worked its magic on Burberry. Outside the British luxury brand’s flagship London store on Regent Street on the first day of its new collab drop, a queue snakes down the busy shopping street, mostly made up of men in their early 20s, many there from 8am to get their hands on the new collaboration with the streetwear giant.

Later, rows of flashing police cars lined the street and one person was even arrested amid a scuffle, according to witnesses. Still for all the commotion, the streetwear-dressed crowd continue waiting, keen to buy and flip top items including a funnel-neck unisex jacket in pastel blue with an embroidered logo, on sale for £2,090 (which then sold out online by the end of the day). A Burberry spokesperson said they weren't aware of the queues this morning. “That's a good sign,” they add.

The Supreme collection — which follows a Tiffany x Supreme drop earlier this year and a luxury playbook that started with Louis Vuitton five years ago — landed in store one day ahead of Burberry’s Autumn/Winter 2022 show. The show is taking place outside of the fashion calendar on Friday, and will be Burberry’s first physical show in front of a live audience in two years.

It comes just days ahead of the arrival of new CEO Jonathan Akeroyd taking the helm on 15 March. Akeroyd joins as the brand chases a luxury positioning, while attracting young shoppers with Riccardo Tisci’s creative direction, which has added hoodies and sneakers to the staple elegant trench coat. The brand continues to lag behind the sales pace of larger luxury rivals, however, with third-quarter sales climbing by 5 per cent. 

The collaboration “dovetails with Riccardo Tisci giving the brand a cooler positioning”, says Luca Solca, senior research analyst of global luxury at Bernstein. “This is similar to what Gucci and Louis Vuitton have achieved by growing in sneakers or recruiting creative talent like Virgil Abloh,” he adds. “In fact, Gucci has embraced a streetwear aesthetic since Alessandro Michele became creative director in 2015, while Louis Vuitton was the first to launch a collaboration with Supreme in January 2017. Burberry seems to be following in the mega-brands footsteps here, and to its advantage.”