Daniel Lee (born 22 January 1986) is an English

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

. He was the creative director of the Italian luxury fashion house

Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta S.r.l () is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Its product lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, jewellery and fragrances. Bottega Veneta is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with its main at ...

from 2018 to 2021, subsequently being appointed as

Riccardo Tisci Riccardo Tisci (; born 1974) is an Italian fashion designer. He studied in Italy at the Design Istituto d’Arte Applicata in Cantù until the age of 17, and then graduated from London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 1999 ...

's replacement as Chief Creative Officer at the helm of

Burberry Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...

Early life

Daniel Lee grew up in Bradford, England. His father was a mechanic and his mother was an office worker. Daniel Lee first attended the Dixons City Academy, and then graduated from the

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

(master's degree) where he was tutored by Louise Wilson. He was an intern at Maison Margiela and

Balenciaga Balenciaga SA ( , , ) is a Spanish Basque luxury fashion house currently headquartered in Paris. It designs, manufactures and markets ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to the American cosmeti ...

(under the direction of Nicolas Ghesquière), and landed a position at

Donna Karan Donna Karan ( ; born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as DK, is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life and education Karan was born to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabinow ...

in New York after his graduation in 2010. In 2012, Lee left Donna Karan for Céline in Paris, where he started as a member of the design team and eventually became the director of ready-to-wear design. He assisted Phoebe Philo in developing the minimal aesthetic that led to the brand's booming popularity.

Bottega Veneta

In June 2018,

Kering Kering S.A. () is a French multinational holding company specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. It owns the brands Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Creed, Maui Jim, and Alexander McQueen. The timber-tradin ...

appointed Lee as

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

of Bottega Veneta, to give a new impetus to the Italian luxury fashion house and develop its ready-to-wear collection. His agenda also included rebooting the men's ready-to-wear collection and launching a home collection. Lee maintained the team of artisans. He preserved Bottega Veneta's emphasis on well-crafted, logoless and simplicity-driven products. To give a new look to Bottega Veneta, he inflated the ''Intrecciato'' designs to capitalize on the brand's most iconic features, and infused more hedonism/desirability in the brand's products. He designed the ''Pouch'' clutch bag which became the fastest selling bag in the history of the brand. Harpers Bazaar commented: Bottega Veneta has become one of fashion's most popular brands in 2019, thanks to its quiet, modern elegance reinterpreted by Lee. His transformation of Bottega Veneta is coined “New Bottega”. He was tagged "The Quiet Radical" by '' Vogue,'' and “fashion’s new wonder boy” by Harper's Bazaar. Amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Lee collaborated with artist

Rosemarie Trockel Rosemarie Trockel (born 13 November 1952) is a German conceptual artist. She has made drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos and installations, and has worked in mixed media. From 1985, she made pictures using knitting-machines. She is a pro ...

and actress, composer, and playwright Sheila Atim for the brand's 2021 ad campaign In early April 2021, the Berlin police investigated whether large private gatherings staged by Bottega Veneta after a Salon event at the

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Indust ...

constituted illegal gatherings without social distancing or masking at the height of the pandemic when a city-wide regulation against private gatherings was in effect. In 2021, Lee designed costumes for the Venice Dance Biennale, It also replaced the monthly fashion shows with private shows or of "salon". On November 10, 2021, Bottega Veneta and Lee announced he would be leaving his post as creative director in a "joint decision to end their collaboration."

Burberry

Subsequent to its Spring / Summer 2023 collection showing, British marque

announced that its present Chief Creative Officer,

, would be stepping down from the company and was to be replaced by Lee. The change came amongst a series of C-suite changes at the company, including the departure of CFO Julie Brown and the appointment of Jonathan Akeroyd as new CEO. Lee was announced as the Chief Creative Officer of

in September 2022 and his debut for Burberry was its Autumn / Winter 2023 collection. Under the creative leadership of Lee, the brand revealed their latest campaign along with a new, revised logo of the Equestrian Knight from 1901.

Personal life

As of 2024 he is in a relationship with the ballet dancer

Roberto Bolle Roberto Bolle (born 26 March 1975) is an Italian danseur. He is a principal dancer ''étoile'' at La Scala Theatre Ballet. Bolle also dances regularly as a guest artist with the world’s leading companies, including The Royal Ballet, the Ma ...

. The couple live in London.

Awards

* 2019: four Fashion Awards (Brand of the Year, Womenswear Designer of the Year, Accessories Designer of the Year, and Designer of the Year)

References

External links

Official biographyBBC radio interview
24 November 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Daniel 1986 births Living people Alumni of Central Saint Martins Designers from Yorkshire English fashion designers People from Bradford LGBTQ fashion designers English LGBTQ artists