Burberry partners with Minecraft as it goes deeper into gaming


In-person, designs on items such as trenches, sweatshirts, hoodies, hats, and scarves fuse brand codes; Burberry checks combine with Minecraft creepers, brand-favourite florals are pixelated. In-game, there are 15 free skins available for users to download, five of which are modelled on the physical capsule collection. Other pieces harken back to iconic Burberry looks, while some play more into the Minecraft game and world. The designs are all modelled on looks by Burberry designers, styled by Burberry stylists. He also highlights the talent of Minecraft creators like Blockception, and the artistic potential therein: “They create these beautiful works of art that you’d never think could be made out of simple pixels.”

“We’ve created something that feels very us: very elevated, very fashion, very luxury — but also very Minecraft,” Hennche says. Here, Burberry signals an openness to metaverse aesthetics that have not always been readily embraced by the fashion industry. The aesthetics of the metaverse and Web3 graphics have been critiqued as fashion has delved further into the space. Minecraft is famously blocky and pixelated — not an obvious choice for a luxury brand. To Burberry, this was another opportunity to lean toward the unexpected, opting for a less classically high-fidelity world in which to create designs and activities. Hennsche points out, the cube is very much part of Burberry’s visual language, from the brand’s fashion shoots to modular visual merchandising in-store and the Burberry check, so the chance to experiment with this style was welcome.

“We’ll continue the path of testing and learning,” Hennsche says, noting that the brand will be considered about its partnerships, but will make room for more experimental projects blending digital and physical, building on learnings from this Minecraft partnership.

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