The Burberry creative director returns to Central Saint Martins to help spotlight who might shape fashion’s next chapter.
Daniel Lee is heading back to where it all started, at least in fashion terms. On June 4, the Burberry chief creative officer will take a seat on the judging panel for Central Saint Martins’ annual BA Fashion Show. The gig? Helping crown the recipient of this year’s L’Oréal Professionnel Young Talent Award.
Lee won’t be deliberating solo. Joining him on the panel are Mandi Lennard, one of London fashion’s longest-standing insiders, Sarah Gresty, course leader of CSM’s BA Fashion program, and Rubie Costin of L’Oréal Professionnel. If past winners are anything to go by, think Wales Bonner, Goom Heo, and Yuhan Wang, the stakes are real.
“It’s an honor,” Lee said of the invitation, adding that CSM played a major role in shaping his career. He studied knitwear under Gresty during his BA and went on to the MA program under the late Louise Wilson, whose no-nonsense mentorship became something of a rite of passage in British fashion.
There’s a poetry in seeing a former student step into a mentor’s shoes, but Gresty sees more than symbolism. “BA Fashion lives in an art school,” she said. “We’re not about making clothes for clothes’ sake. We want graduates who shift conversations, about identity, politics, culture. Daniel gets that. He’s lived it.”
The school’s fashion course has long been a pressure cooker for talent, not to mention a runway for industry change. This year’s show will likely be no exception. With Lee involved, expect eyes to stay glued a little longer than usual.
