MONDAY SEP. 18, 2023 10:20 AM LONDON.
Beneath a tent in the London’s Highbury Fields, Burberry showed their SS24 collection on Monday morning. The creative director, Daniel Lee, hosted a gilded roster of celebrities and critics for his highly anticipated sophomore collection. Amidst the post-show bedlam, our editor-in-chief snagged a chat with Tems—the singer blending R&B and Afrobeats—who arrived draped in a dark purple, faux fur Burberry coat. They debriefed about her favorite looks, the beauty of an obnoxiously high heel, her schemes to acquire a certain red set (last seen on the runway), and the interview with Kendrick Lamar that had her “gagged.”—ELOISE KING-CLEMENTS
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MEL OTTENBERG: What’s up, Tems?
TEMS: What’s good?
OTTENBERG: Nice to meet you in person.
TEMS: Nice to meet you, too.
OTTENBERG: You go for a really rude entrance, but today it’s just dark and mysterious.
TEMS: I love dark and mysterious. I love a dark purple. It’s a fur coat. It feels real, but it’s faux. See that? It feels so soft.
OTTENBERG: You look so gorgeous. Is this your first Burberry show?
TEMS: It’s my first.
OTTENBERG: This is Daniel [Lee’s] second Burberry show and your first. What’s the vibe?
TEMS: The vibe is giving, honestly. It’s giving sexy, it’s giving fun, playful, dynamic. There’s so many pieces I saw that I was like, “Wow, his mind is crazy.” There’s this red set that I was just like, “We have to tell him that I need that ASAP.”
OTTENBERG: You’ll get it. Describe it to me.
Look 22 from Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection.
TEMS: It almost looked like a biker jacket without the sleeves, but it was red, and it was made of cotton and it was tucked into a red flare pant.
OTTENBERG: Do you wear a really high heel?
TEMS: I do.
OTTENBERG: I feel like you’d be good in a really obnoxious heel. And he has a lot of really obnoxious shoes.
TEMS: Oh my goodness, I love the high heels. There’s so many high heels. There’s one silver one and it looked like thorns but it was a sandal, strappy everywhere on the feet. It was so cool.
Look 44 from Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection.
OTTENBERG: The strappy shoes, coats, stuff billowing everywhere.
TEMS: Killer, killer.
OTTENBERG: The silhouette.
TEMS: Yeah, it was incredible. There’s so many dresses as well. There was one that had frills swinging everywhere. That one was incredible.
Look 35 from Burberry’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection.
OTTENBERG: Are you going out tonight? Are you going to be wearing a Burberry outfit?
TEMS: I will be. Probably a different one, though, like a Burberry tracksuit.
OTTENBERG: Okay, sick. Is this Burberry, too?
TEMS: This is all Burberry. Burberry coat, pants, shoes, Burberry Jewelry.
OTTENBERG: Shall we take a picture?
TEMS: Of course.
OTTENBERG: Thank you again for doing the interview now, but also for, the September issue. Do you know Kendrick in person?
TEMS: Oh yeah, we met at his show a few months before that.
OTTENBERG: We were very gagged that he suggested to do the interview because we’re all such fans.
TEMS: Yeah, I was gagged too.
OTTENBERG: Do you like doing interviews, or do you hate it?
TEMS: I don’t usually like it, but I love [doing them] with artists. I love doing interviews with people that feel human.
OTTENBERG: Yes, as opposed to an A.I. reporter.
TEMS: Yeah, that’s just like an exam questionnaire type of thing.
OTTENBERG: I feel you. I hope I didn’t do that.
TEMS: Not at all. You gave me all the goods.
