Burberry takes another step forward in luxury gaming with Tencent

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 22, 2021

Another day, another story about Burberry innovating in the technology area. Hot on the heels of news of its virtual digital store in Japan last week, on Monday we heard that the company is diving even deeper into the world of gaming in a China-focused development.

It has revealed exclusive designs for Honor of Kings, which is the mobile game’s first co-creation with a luxury brand. Burberry Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci has exclusively designed two skins for the game’s popular heroine Yao. 

The skins will be available to buy for all Honor of Kings players in mainland China and will then remain part of the players’ permanent collection.

The company said this builds on the existing partnership between the luxury fashion house and Tencent and continues to “reflect Burberry’s ambitions to push boundaries through innovation and creativity”. Honor of Kings was developed by TiMi Studios and is published by Tencent Games.

Centred around the theme of the ‘Spirit of Nature’, the collab continues the label’s ongoing exploration of the relationship between humans and nature. It said that its affinity to the outdoors “links harmoniously with Yao, who embodies the spirit of nature and is able to take the form of a deer – also an expression of the Burberry animal kingdom house code”.

Yao’s two exclusive skins have been inspired by Burberry house codes as reinterpreted by Tisci and include references to the signature check, the trench coat and the Thomas Burberry Monogram. The Spirit of Nature skin draws on “the classicism of these Burberry hallmarks and reinvents them into a modern look for Yao to reflect her strong, dynamic and adventurous character”. Her Spirit of Nature deer “takes a mirrored form, drawing upon Riccardo’s fascination with the concept of duality and the creativity found in two perspectives”.

Meanwhile, Burberry has co-created a Spirit of the Forest and Ocean Legend skin for Yao using one of the runway looks from SS21 collection. It draws on the collection’s mythical marine references and features a statement warm royal blue collarless trench coat and a crystal-embroidered vest.