British fashion house Burberry has rolled out its new out-of-home campaign in Dubai, bringing some drama to the city's skyscraper luxury. Backing the ‘It's Always Burberry Weather: London in Love’ campaign, the fashion-wear brand uses the romanticism of classic British rom-coms—rain-soaked declarations of love and grand gestures under the city's brooding skies. But in place of rom-com leads, we have Titanic royalty Kate Winslet and Chinese supermodel Liu Wen. It's Burberry's nod to the fact that irrespective of the season, their trenches, tailoring, and ageless style always dress up the scene, similar to their last campaign. There's something that gives the feeling that this campaign is part of a grand orchestral score. The imagery is cinematic nostalgia all the way, with trench coats in mid-flow as if a meet-cute is about to happen. It's London in its most romanticized form, swathed in Burberry beige. But here, pitted against the shining steel and glass of Dubai, the contrast makes it all the more compelling. The campaign doesn't rely on overt branding; no screaming logos or over-styling. Instead, it relies on the hope that the storytelling and giant brand ambassadors would be enough, using fashion's ability to create an atmosphere instead of merely selling an object. Dubai has no shortage of experience with the heavy hitters in fashion, and Burberry's move to seed these billboards in the city's most densely populated, highly visible areas wasn't planned. These massive unipole advertisements grab the attention of commuters, business leaders, and tourists passing by— an audience that isn't merely passionate about fashion but demands it at its finest. Dubai, like Burberry, feeds on heritage and innovation. Its prominence here reiterates its commitment to the international luxury market, so that its signature check and trench remain as relevant in the Middle East as they are in the rain-soaked streets of London. In a city where sun is monarch, Burberry is letting us know that British weather myth is just as sexy backdropped against the Dubai skyline. The campaign flooded Dubai’s uni-poles the second week of March.
