Burberry’s Fashion Week takeover of Bond Street station in central London has been widely criticised by commuters as it led to mass confusion and a fair few disrupted journeys.
The Central, Elizabeth and Jubilee line station acts as a focal point for the London Underground in the West End and is consistently one of the busiest stations on the network – leading many to question the thinking behind this latest brand activation.
Introducing #Burberry Street 👀 ✨
To celebrate #LondonFashionWeek, Bond Street has transformed into Burberry Street, featuring knight blue, a colour debuted by Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee as one of @Burberry’s new brand colours
Visit Bond Street until 19 September to see… pic.twitter.com/pz5VqALKJa
— TfL (@TfL) September 15, 2023
In celebration of London Fashion Week and to raise awareness of the recent revamp of Burberry’s flagship Bond Street store, the station was renamed ‘Burberry Street’ with signage and roundels all changed to ‘knight blue’ – the fashion house’s new brand colour selected by chief creative officer Daniel Lee.
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The move is a damning indictment of TfL’s dire finances however, with the network eager to plug a £740 million funding gap – seemingly by any means necessary.
Cannot get over the stupidity of TfL renaming Bond St “Burberry St” for the sake of ad partnership. Some poor elderly man just asked me in a panic if he’d missed Bond St (3 stops past Bond St). This must happen hundreds of times a day pic.twitter.com/yDFkZJoxm5
— Olivia Utley (@OliviaUtley) September 18, 2023
Many TfL users have also taken to social media to point out the dangers of such rebrands to physically and mentally disabled passengers – who rely on clear and precise instructions, along with their own familiarity of the network to navigate themselves.
In response, a TfL spokesperson said: “TfL has delivered a number of temporary station renamings in recent years and while the station is branded “Burberry Street”, in-train announcements, announcements within the stations and staff on platforms will help customers should they require it.”
"burberry street" very bland imo but it leaves a less sour taste in my mouth than the norman's pop up, which is giving let's cosplay caff culture even though we described our brand image as damaged when not posh people wore the caps circa 2002
— rhys thomas (@_rhysthomas_) September 15, 2023
Scoring a further own goal, Burberry was also panned for a collaboration with ‘working-class’ café Norman’s, which has been accused of neglecting its roots through over-priced dishes and its commoditisation of ‘caff culture’.
