gary hume designs burberry’s summer 2025 show set with cutouts inspired by hospital doors

Gary hume revives his installation ‘bays’ for burberry

During Burberry’s Summer 2025 show, Gary Hume brings over a set design that recalls an installation of his from the 1990s called Bays. It was presented in the show space at the National Theatre in London on September 16th, 2024, semi-covering both the viewers and the models. For a bit of history, Gary Hume showcased his installation Bays for the first time in a group exhibition called the East Country Yard Show.

It was in 1990, in London’s Docklands, and he made this piece from water-resistant sheets. What made it his was the cutout rectangles around the piece, reminiscent of the modernist design of hospital doors. This design was a prominent feature in the British artist’s paintings in the late 1980s and 1990s as well. Decades later, Gary Hume revives this very installation, this time as a set design for the Burberry Summer 2025 show in London. It is the first time the artist has showcased it again since it was exhibited in 1990.

all images courtesy of Burberry

Daniel lee taps the british artist for the Summer 2025 show

It was Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer, Daniel Lee, who approached Gary Hume for the set design of the brand’s Summer 2025 show. ‘I was surprised he was even aware of the Bays installation, as it was work I made a long time ago that hasn’t been seen much. It’s such an honor to work with him on this show and design the set for such an iconic brand at an iconic venue,’ says the British artist.

Dubbed one of the leading British painters and sculptors of his generation, Gary Hume’s artistic signature lies in his figurative and abstract paintings using high-gloss industrial paint. His use of colors is also associated with his artistic ethos, and in fact, pieces in Burberry’s summer collection can recall this in the form of clothing.

Gary Hume brings over an original set design that recalls an installation of his from the 1990s, Bays

knitted, check-collar polo shirts inspired by the artist’s works

During the show, models strut wearing knitted and check-collar polo shirts in neutral hues. They’re also donning color-blocked versions of these clothes, which draw inspiration from the work of artist Gary Hume, with some of them printed with painterly and pastoral scenes.

Working with Gary Hume continues Burberry’s collaborative flair for its shows. In the past, they’ve partnered with contemporary British artists such as Sarah Lucas at Tate Britain and John Akomfrah at La Biennale di Venezia. For the Summer 2025 show, the stage is set for Gary Hume, marking a period for the British artist to revisit an impressionistic archive and bring it into the limelight again.

view of the Burberry Summer 2025 show with an original set design by Gary Hume