All Change: Burberry Unveils September Show News

It's so long Maker's House, hello Old Sessions House this afternoon, as Burberry has announced the location of its forthcoming September show. The British brand revealed its new Clerkenwell base as it announced that it will be hosting a "major photographic exhibition" curated by president and chief creative officer Christopher Bailey, entitled Here We Are, in the show space. The show will accumulate the work of over 30 social and documentary photographers who made their aesthetic mark on the 20th Century, including Shirley Baker, Ken Russell, and Alasdair McLellan.

"When we started thinking about curating Here We Are, I knew I wanted it to celebrate a certain strand of British photography that I have always loved - one which documents the many and varied tribes and clans and classes that make up this island of ours," said Bailey, who introduced the concept on Burberry's Instagram account this afternoon. "It has been an extraordinary privilege to gather together this collection of photographs, that have influenced me so much over the years. They provide a portrait of British life, in all its nuances, both exceptional and mundane, beautiful and harsh. It’s the spirit of those photographs – sometimes ironic, sometimes tender, always truthful - that has guided our September collection. Together they will form an exhibition in our new show space, celebrating a very British way of life and way of dressing."

The simultaneous announcement makes a departure from the place the brand has come to call home for the last two seasons in Soho, but stays true to its constant revival of Brit culture and heritage from myriad centuries, which will no doubt inform the aesthetic direction of its third see-now, buy-now collection. The teaser imagery released today points to a sartorial ode to the nostalgia of bygone everyday wardrobes with the focus on the familiar, albeit in a new light.

While that remains to be seen on the evening of September 16 (although because of the brand's runway-to-retail structure, key press and buyers have already been treated to a necessary preview under embargo), we do have firm facts when it comes to the exhibition which is co-curated by Lucy Kumara Moore, director of the cult Claire de Rouen Books. It will be open to the public and run from September 18 to October 1 (a longer period than previous installations at Maker's House); the work will be divided into different themes over three floors "which reflect different aspects of the British way of life"; and will incorporate a celebration of its new collaboration with McLellan, in the form of a special presentation of over 70 photographs – the largest number of his works shown to date.

"I have long been enchanted by British 'social portraiture'," said Moore, "photography that reveals the ways in which we live, work, dream, celebrate and challenge, both individually and collectively. I was therefore honoured to be invited by Christopher to curate this exhibition with him – he has such a deep personal interest in the work and his idea to host this exhibition reflects the brand’s expansive approach to the relation between fashion and visual culture."

The extravaganza and show will be the first under the brand's new management structure, which saw Marco Gobbetti arrive from Céline to take the CEO reins from Bailey, and Bailey resume full creative duties along with the added title of president. With more time to focus his full attentions on the clothes, might this be Bailey at his best? Stay tuned.