The sex checks and eccentricities of Daniel Lee's Burberry

BRITAIN IS NERVOUS. THE OUTLOOK IS GLOOMY. AND AT BURBERRY, ONE OF THE LAST GLOBAL BASTIONS OF BRITISH LUXURY, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER DANIEL LEE IS SEEKING TO INJECT A SENSUAL OPTIMISM INTO OUR DEEPLY ANXIOUS TIMES.

- BY MURRAY CLARK PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANCESC PLANES PORTRAIT BY BRIANNA CAPOZZI

London isn't easily shocked. Something earth-shattering—say, a pandemic—might send the world reeling, and yet Soho will still fill up at the first sniff of on-street pints. The more nostalgic among us might call it Blitz mentality; the more reasonable would call it general metropolitan detachment. But on this particular crisp, sub-zero morning, a crowd is gathering at St Paul's Cathedral. People hold iPhones aloft to capture a moment. Granted, they don’t know what is happening at this moment; they don’t know what it’s for, or why it’s playing out here. But it feels like a moment—one that’s taken London by surprise. After all, this is where Charles and Diana made their ill-fated nuptials. Its place in the British psyche is sacred.

BEYOND A CORDON of hi-vis heavies, a Hollywood-level film production is unfolding. Cherry pickers invade the hallowed space of the 317-year-old dome. Around a fleet of parked up Winnebagos, pop-up kitchens dish out coffee and pastries to runners. And all eyes, on-set and off it, are focused on David Gandy, still Britain's most handsome man, clutching a spray of wilted roses as he’s battered by rain that'd be considered biblical if it wasn’t coming from a hose that looks a bit like the Loch Ness monster. His heavy brow admits defeat, but his coat—a boxy half-zip Burberry jacket in the house check—does not. The beige silk blend almost shines. “It’s silly,” says a gleeful aide with a clipboard. Someone calls cut. Gandy is handed a towel and smirks. The entire crew cracks up. “Silly’s good,” says a light West Yorkshire accent from behind the camera. It belongs to Daniel Lee, Burberry’s chief creative officer, and the architect of this sprawling production. “Silly is good.”