News / Fashion

Alasdair McLellan directs Cara Delevingne and Matt Smith in Burberry Christmas campaign

Words by Ruby Boddington, Wednesday 01 November 2017

Burberry-fashion-itsnicethat-list — Still from Burberry 2017 Christmas Campaign

A day after its president and chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, announced he will be stepping down, Burberry has released its 2017 Christmas campaign. Famous for its alliance with big-name stars, previous years have seen James Corden and Naomi Campbell, Romeo Beckham and Asif Kapadia taking centre stage.

This season, it’s model Cara Delevingne and actor Matt Smith who feature in the festive video shot by Alasdair McLellan. The campaign opens with Cara singing Always on My Mind before cutting to the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of the song. Although initially starting out slow and in black and white, the video quickly switches to VHS-style colour and a more playful vibe.

Throughout the clip, the celeb-duo have fun in various iconic Burberry looks such as trench coats, suits and cashmere scarves, many of which are adorned with the brand’s signature print.

More like this:

Work / Photography Luca Mastroianni on his journey from Instagram selfies to the new Gentle Monster campaign

“Instagram! It all started with Instagram!” explains the Brussels-based photographer Luca Mastroianni. Transforming the average selfie into a high fashion world of wonder, Luca’s unexpected career as a jet setting fashion photographer all began when he started documenting his outfits on the gram. “One day, I decided to create a background on Photoshop to deepen the aesthetic of my photos and make them more interesting,” Luca tells It’s Nice That. “That is when I realised I could create a multitude of compositions with almost no resources thanks to Photoshop.”

Jyni Ong — 18 June 2019
Work / Fashion Pugment is an art-fashion label reflecting the realities of modern-day Tokyo

We all have an idea of what fashion in Tokyo entails. Harajuku girls, manga-inspired makeup, doll-like dresses embellished with lace, Muji minimalism and bold, Comme Des Garçons silhouettes. Our perceptions of Japanese fashion from the West understand boldness and visual excess, yet there are innumerable nuances within Tokyo’s fashion scene as seen through labels such as Pugment.

Jyni Ong — 17 December 2018
Work / Fashion Agnes Choi’s latest collection weaves nostalgia and memory into fashion

Fashion designer Agnes Choi is re-inserting the quintessential look of East Asia’s older generations for a contemporary audience. For anyone that is a fan of the accidental Asian hipster look or the Asian grandma chic aesthetic (myself included), Agnes’ latest collection Limination, draws on themes of cultural nostalgia to inform her fashion collection.

Jyni Ong — 05 December 2018
Work / Fashion Eating the Other explores the western fascination with Chinese traditional dress

The qipao, otherwise known as the cheongsam is a typical, traditional dress for Chinese women. But, the historic, “body-hugging” dress has evolved from 17th century Qing dynasty uniform to a stereotypical form of fetishising Chinese women in the West. This subject is a focus for Melbourne-based fashion designer Betty Liu who explores the typecast roles of Chinese women through fashion, particularly through the idea of the pure “lotus flower and its antithesis, the dragon lady,” she describes. Through examining the Western fascination with the qipao, which connotes “tones of hyper-sexuality and mystique”, Betty aims to create innovative work that comments on Asian stereotypes without “deliberately sexualising the dress.”

Jyni Ong — 26 November 2018
Sponsored / Fashion Sunspel keeps things simple – and beautiful

The story of the T-shirt is forever entwined with one Thomas Arthur Hill, the 11th child of a Victorian hosiery maker. In 1860, Thomas founded Sunspel. Back then, they were at the forefront of a steam-powered industrial revolution, producing luxury undergarments and some of the world’s first T-shirts out of their factory in Nottingham. Ever since, Sunspel has been a byword for a very British kind of luxury.

It's Nice That — 21 November 2018
Work / Publication King Kong is not just a magazine, it's a collectable item

Emerging out of an entirely new space dedicated to the freedom of expression within art and fashion, King Kong is a fashion magazine that organically includes elements of pure art; designed by its co-founder Mikel Benhaim. The aim of the publication is to “provide a fearless platform for artists to push themselves beyond what is featured in most magazines today,” Mikel tells It’s Nice That.

Jyni Ong — 19 October 2018

Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays From documentaries to exhibition design via portraiture and painting, relive June’s Nicer Tuesdays

You know the drill by now… The last Tuesday of every month only means one thing: Nicer Tuesdays. As the Netherlands took on Japan last night in an attempt to secure their place in the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup (congratulations to the Orange Lionesses), we were treated to back-to-back brilliance in the form of four creative talks.

It's Nice That — 26 June 2019
Work / Response and Responsibility Useless is a website mapping out the UK’s zero-waste network

This article is part of Response and Responsibility, a new series of stories about the ongoing climate crisis and what the creative industries can do about it.

Josh Baines — 26 June 2019
Features / Response and Responsibility Material Literacy: Why we need to rethink language to survive the climate crisis

This article is part of Response and Responsibility, a new series of stories about the ongoing climate crisis and what the creative industries can do about it.

Seetal Solanki — 26 June 2019
Features / Response and Responsibility Welcome to Response and Responsibility, a look at creativity and climate change

Today we’re launching a new month-long series of advice articles, opinion pieces and features all about the ongoing climate crisis and what the creative industries can do about it. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect over the coming four weeks.

Josh Baines — 26 June 2019
Work / Photography Maurizio Di Iorio tricks the eye with his illusory photography

You might remember Italian photographer Maurizio Di lorio from when he shot our first ever photographic cover for Printed Pages way back in 2014. If not, here’s a little hint to jog the memory: it saw a highly saturated and tongue-in-cheek still life of an orange and an egg engaged in a soft and tender embrace – an image and experience that Maurizio is particularly attached to. “That cover was the definitive crossing of a line and it sent me towards a more ‘developed’ style of photography,” he tells It’s Nice That. “Until then, I was perfecting my style and my tastes.”

Ayla Angelos — 26 June 2019
Work / Photography With “personality and warmth”, Laura McCluskey turns her lens to those around her

“My style of photography is honest and relaxed,” says London-based Laura McCluskey, whose photography work flits between portrait, fashion and social documentary. With an aim to create joyful imagery that “shows personality and warmth”, Laura has a wide-spanning portfolio that dabbles between personal projects and commissions from brands such as Nike, Asos, Converse, Sneakersnstuff, as well as publications including Twin magazine, Pylot magazine, Teeth magazine and more.

Ayla Angelos — 26 June 2019

Regulars / Bookshelf The team at Letterform Archive reveal their favourite type-filled books

Letterform Archive is a museum and non-profit library based in San Fransisco, California. Founded by Rob Saunders, an avid gatherer of the letter arts for over 40 years, the archive was formed primarily as a place for him to share his private collection with the world. Now, after opening its doors in 2015, it boasts hands-on access to a curated selection of over 50,000 items relating to lettering, typography, calligraphy and graphic design. It’s a mammoth acquisition that spans thousands of years of history – quite impressive, some might say.

Ayla Angelos — 26 June 2019
Work / Graphic Design Graphic designer Anne Büttner is drawn towards all-things bold, clashing and experimental

Before pursing a career in graphic design, Berlin-based Anne Büttner found herself steering towards the art scene. “I was actually more interested in painting in my teenage years and wanted to study art,” she admits. “However, I decided to apply for illustration at HAW, Hamburg, where I also took some type classes.”

Ayla Angelos — 25 June 2019
Work / Graphic Design Graphic designer Marie Ducrocq's future-facing aesthetics are supported by thorough research

Currently working towards a master’s at ECV Paris, graphic designer Marie Ducrocq tells us that she likes to "cross disciplines to push the boundaries of graphic design. I love to experiment and challenge myself to explore and strengthen my visual universe.” As a designer with custom typefaces, publications, web design and photography in her portfolio, it’s experimentation that forms the basis of every project. “That’s what I like about graphic design,” she explains, “ you can explore and always discover new things.”

Ruby Boddington — 25 June 2019
Features / Miscellaneous The poet laureate of Twitter Brian Bilston creates four new poems from Adobe Stock images

For Found in Adobe Stock, It’s Nice That has commissioned creatives to explore the world of Adobe Stock’s collection to make a new series of works. The project asks each creative to dive into the depths of Adobe Stock as a starting point, and then devise new short stories or create new worlds from chosen images. We follow each creative’s journey on their stock narrative endeavours and unpack how they used their individual findings to make innovative final pieces.

Jyni Ong — 25 June 2019
Work / Photography Photographer Daniel Stier on how he transforms “cheap mass-produced things” into art

We last wrote about the work of Daniel Stier in 2017 and, since then, he’s done “lots of stuff”. As well as focusing on a new book, which he aims to publish this year – looking at London and megacities in general – he has also been commissioned by various giants across the industry. This includes The New York Times T Magazine, Zeit Magazine, Esquire, Interview, The Telegraph Magazine, and Wallpaper to name a few.

Ayla Angelos — 25 June 2019
Work / Art Fragility, despair and boredom are the pillars to Madeleine Pfull’s paintings of elderly women

What better way of understanding your characters than to fully become them? For Australian-based artist Madeleine Pfull, she does just that – creating imagery devised from reference photographs, she poses using make-up, dress and wigs to become one with her elderly ladies.

Ayla Angelos — 25 June 2019

Work / Illustration Go on a quest for cheesy chips with Sarah Hingley’s choose your own adventure zine

“As someone who was born and grew up in the north of England, I feel that a love for cheesy chips is somehow wired into my DNA,” says illustrator Sarah Hingley about her choose your own adventure zine dedicated to the most delicious of augmented spuds. Readers of The Quest for Cheesy Chips must keep their wits about them as they select which scenario to pursue, ushering them towards culinary ecstasy or tummy-rumbling peril. Will you have all your money stolen by a seagull or get knocked out by a barm cake swung by former shot-put champion Doris, or will you gorge yourself on the fried food of the gods?

Laura Snoad — 25 June 2019
Work / Digital Western Fronts is a nature documentary that collapses into itself

In September 2017, the United States Secretary of the Interior leaked a memo revealing plans to drastically reduce the borders and protections for four national monuments established by the Obama administration. The sites included Casacade Siskyou which reaches across Oregon and California, Gold Butte in Nevada and Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears.

Jyni Ong — 25 June 2019
Work / Photography As a response to the world around him, Christopher Anderson photographs the cops of New York City

In the wake of 9/11, American photographer and Magnum member Christopher Anderson turned his lens towards the cops of New York City. Here, he captured the place he called home as it changed, turned and evolved into a city under lock down. Then stirred by Occupy Wall Street, the death of Eric Garner and the election of Trump, Christopher found himself, again, photographing the city’s authorities.

Ayla Angelos — 24 June 2019
Work / Illustration Sport, depression and Milton Keynes remain steadfast themes in illustrator Tom Guilmard's work

When we last wrote about illustrator Tom Guilmard, it was in relation to his series expressing his frustrations with his hometown of Milton Keynes. Two years on, and we’re relieved to report he’s still there, and his feelings towards the place are better than ever. “I am still based in the land of dreams and well on my way to a mortgage and a full-time managerial position at Santander,” he jokes.

Ruby Boddington — 24 June 2019
Work / Graphic Design “We will fight on the battlefield!”: A day in the office of Studio O.OO

When asked where Taiwan-based design studio O.OO gets its name, co-founder Pip Lu responds explaining that it all comes from the fact that they don’t go into the studio that often. “It represents us often being out of office.”

Ayla Angelos — 24 June 2019
Sponsored / Publication This is Antwerp: why you'll want to visit Europe's most atypical city

Planning your next weekend away but feeling a bit bored of Barcelona, nonplussed by Paris, or unsatisfied by Seville? Why not think about spending a few days in the charming Belgian city of Antwerp.

It's Nice That — 24 June 2019

Work / Film A glimpse inside FKA twigs’ year-long pole-performance training schedule

Earlier this year, ethnographic archivist, photographer and filmmaker Anaka received a phone call asking if she’d film FKA twigs in the lead-up to the release of Cellophane, twigs’ first new music in three years. Anaka, of course, agreed, and set off to Los Angeles to document the gruelling physical and mental labour that went into twigs’ pole performance, which makes up the majority of the cinematic Cellophane music video.

Daphne Milner — 24 June 2019
Work / Graphic Design Graphics studio Brest Brest Brest injects some silliness into French cultural institutions

Brest Brest Brest: so good they named it three times! Actually not based in the French city of Brest but split between the similarly named Crest and Paris, this graphic design studio specialises in fun and occasionally cheeky work for cultural institutions. Past projects have seen the studio playfully distort and elongate vintage photographs, give every geographical landscape you can imagine googly eyes, and overlay stern black and white portraits with raw eggs, the yolks making for unlikely clowns’ noses. Given we hadn’t sat down with these graphic mischief-makers for four whole years, we decided to quiz them on what’s new. Turns out, quite a lot.

Laura Snoad — 24 June 2019
Work / Animation Enter the saccharine lunacy of Becky and Joe’s idents for Trolli sweets

You know those sweat-drenched dreams you have when you’ve accidentally swaddled yourself in the duvet and are haunted by a presence somewhere between a repulsive goblin and unhinged kids show presenter? The ones where you wake up afraid to turn on a TV? Well, Becky and Joe’s new stop-frame idents for US confectionary brand Trolli have mainlined that feeling, bringing you a selection of misshapen cave-dwellers that – through just one taste of Trolli’s tangy confectionary – enter a world of psychedelic lunacy. The sweets even sing.

Laura Snoad — 24 June 2019
Regulars / The Graduates 2019 AI personality consultant to digital matte painter: The creative jobs you didn’t know existed

Our final advice piece as part of The Graduates 2019 is by It’s Nice That’s sister site, Lecture In Progress. Providing advice, insight and inspiration for the next generation of creatives, this week the Lecture in Progress team tells us about the range of creative jobs available to graduates, with a couple you maybe never knew existed.

Lecture In Progress — 24 June 2019
Work / Graphic Design Antonia Terhedebrügge and Mado Klümper’s identity for Sehsüchte Festival combines “soft forms and edgy lines”

The Sehsüchte Festival is a film festival which has been hosted by students from the Film University Potsdam-Babelsberg Konrad Wolf since 1972 and has become an international stage for newcomers to the film industry. This year saw its 48th edition and designers Antonia Terhedebrügge and Mado Klümper produced an identity for the event, channelling this year’s theme of “explore”.

Ruby Boddington — 21 June 2019
Work / Photography Photographer Jeff Mermelstein takes us on an extraordinary trip inside the Barclays Centre

The work of Jeff Mermelstein needs little introduction. As a photojournalist and street photographer giant, well-known for snapping private text conversations and his work in New York City, Jeff, since the early 80’s, has taken to the streets to chronicle the life of the everyday New Yorker.

Ayla Angelos — 21 June 2019

Features / Illustration A “minute-by-minute” illustrated guide to the 2019 Women's World Cup: The last 16

We’ve teamed up with Minute Books to bring together an all-star squad of 11 illustrators who It’s Nice That has commissioned to document every single game of the Women’s World Cup. We’ll be updating this article after every stage of the tournament so make sure you keep checking back.

Ruby Boddington — 21 June 2019
Work / Graphic Design “Movies, movies, movies”: graphic designer David Benski on his cinematic portfolio

“Movies, movies, movies,” says David Benski when asked about the inspiration for his work. Despite referencing a quote from french film director Leos Carax claiming he’s not much of a cineaste, this Berlin-based graphic designer clearly affirms his style as one that’s heavily influenced my the cinematic: “I think I’m drawn to the fictional part of it.”

Ayla Angelos — 21 June 2019
Work / Illustration Arabella Simpson makes an “illustrated spaghetti” of global objects

When we last wrote about illustrator Arabella Simpson last year, we took you dear readers on a tour of her jigsaw-like colourful drawings. She’s still interested in themes of copyright and recycling amongst other things, but her style has evidently progressed. It’s more sophisticated with a deeper sense of character that is distinctly Arabella, touching on her new ideas and interests surrounding globalism.

Jyni Ong — 21 June 2019
Work / Film Plastic Dreams art show exists in the intersection of IRL and online curatorial spaces

In May 1993, Dutch producer Jaydee released Plastic Dreams, a song that has since gone down in House music history. Plastic Dreams is now also the name of a new group exhibition, conceptualised and devised by 4:3’s creative director Amar Ediriwira and Boiler Room’s senior curator Gennaro Leone, which opens today (21 June 2019) inside Manifattura Tabacchi, a disused tobacco factory in Florence.

Daphne Milner — 21 June 2019
Work / Photography Deconstructed bodies: The photography of Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Currently displaying his work in a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, American photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya crafts his photographs according to principles of deconstruction. Bodies often appear in fragments, obscured by one another, cut off by the framing, hidden among layers of preexisting images, concealed behind the paraphernalia of the photography studio. Paul’s method, in turn, deconstructs the gaze of the viewer; the elements of the image are presented as disjointed slices of vision that turn the act of looking into an act of assembling. In a wider sense, this relates to Paul’s deconstruction of traditional portraiture and his disruption of the relationship between subject, photographer and viewer.

Rebecca Irvin — 21 June 2019
Regulars / The Graduates 2019 Why should you apply to The Graduates 2019? Three grads tell us how it helped their career

Over the past few weeks, our focus has been fully on the graduating class of 2019. With just a few short days to submit your portfolio for the chance to be one of The Graduates this year (you can apply here until midnight on 24 June), we’re really keen to hear from any creatives finishing their course this year!

Lucy Bourton — 20 June 2019