Rom-coms, rain and Burberry: David Lane on how his new campaign taps into a very British trio

While it’s now a worldwide phenomena, a very strong case can be made for the UK being the original mass-producer and exporter of the hybrid comfort film genre, the rom-com. Largely thanks to the likes of director Richard Curtis, whose films like Four Weddings and Funeral and Notting Hill had a meteoric rise to fame in the 1990s (with a helping hand from his floppy haired, bumbling lead Hugh Grant), it’s the genre’s heady mix of humour, charm and – dare we say – loveably predictable storylines, that Burberry has capitalised on in its new campaign, It’s Always Burberry Weather: London in Love, pairing sweet scenes with Burberry’s iconic trench coats, check scarfs and umbrellas. But, as the saying goes, three’s a charm, and what better British stalwart to bring it all together than a good old showering of rain.

The campaign is a continuation of Burberry’s last campaign, It’s Always Burberry Weather, which premiered last October to much fanfare online. It saw actors Olivia Coleman donning a quilted jacket on a country estate and Barry Keogan practicing his lines with a waitress in a big puffa; rapper Little Simz in a parka on a train listening to music, and – in perhaps the most unexpected acting debut of the year – the duffel coat-wearing, notoriously deadpan Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, whiling away his time fishing. “The previous campaign opened a new direction for Burberry, and we wanted to continue in that vein,” David Lane tells It’s Nice That. “The brand is universally accepted, whether you’re the Queen or on the football terraces or a commuter, the trench and the scarf appeal to lots of different people in society.”

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, David wanted to use something just as loved and recognisable as Burberry in the UK as the campaign’s heart, and the rom-com provided the perfect vehicle. “Whether you are British or looking at Britain from abroad, there’s something warm and human about them, especially the ones from the 90s era,” says David. “It’s this kind of pretend fictional London that doesn’t exist, but it’s the London you think might exist – fashion is fictional.” The campaign takes “tropes” from the rom-com genre, and fits them within the storylines, helped along by classic locations and lighting – a picnic in the park; a passionate meeting on a street-lit Thames riverside; a solo cafe trip on a dreary day, aching with longing.

There’s one star-studded hero film which provides the campaign’s centre, and seven short films, or vignettes, each showing a different love story emerging across London. The one thread running throughout them all? Rain! We see Kate Winslet leaving her house on the phone, turning down another house swap (cheeky nod to her role in The Holiday here) as she would miss the UK’s rain too much; Aimee Lou Wood and Michael Ward getting caught by a shower just before a romantic first smooch on a Burberry blanket; and Richard E. Grant spending an afternoon with his trusty dog, his umbrella sheltering both from the rain. A real stand-out, however, is a cameo from South Korean film star Son Suk-Ku. Holed up in a greasy spoon, he’s on the phone to a loved one far away, telling tales of British food (a half-eaten fry-up on his plate) and weather (rain, of course).

With the campaign, David wanted to go against the vibe he sees in lots of other fashion campaigns, the “this is our cool club, and you’re not invited” message. He concludes: “Burberry is very welcoming and open, embraced by so many parts of society. It’s nice to create something inviting for the viewer that isn’t hiding behind a perfect façade. Emotional, real, honest and entertaining. Campaigns should be enjoyable to watch as well as be admirable for how well they are made.”