Riccardo Tisci

Riccardo Tisci is an Italian fashion designer born in Taranto in 1974 and raised in the Como area. He moved to London as a teenager, trained through an introductory fashion course and studio experience with Antonio Berardi, and graduated from Central Saint Martins in 1999. Early work connected him to Puma, Coccapani and a short, unstable Ruffo Research project before he presented an eponymous collection in Milan in 2004.

Givenchy appointed Tisci artistic director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories in 2005; menswear and men’s accessories were added in May 2008. Across twelve years, he connected couture technique and ceremonial dress to jersey, graphics, sportswear, music and a coordinated campaign system. The couture programme moved from conventional runway seasons to smaller presentations, paused as a regular calendar after 2012 and later returned in groups shown with menswear.

Tisci left Givenchy in February 2017 and became Burberry Chief Creative Officer on 12 March 2018 with authority over all collections. He commissioned Peter Saville for a new wordmark and TB monogram, presented his first designed collection, Kingdom, in September 2018 and developed the unified Burberry label through mainline collections, pre-collections, B Series drops and separately credited collaborations.

His Burberry period included the co-created Vivienne Westwood project, Burberry x Supreme and performance-led collections made with musicians and artists. Spring/Summer 2023, presented on 26 September 2022, was his final designed runway collection; his departure was announced two days later and became effective at the end of September. Later independent work has included custom dress, mentoring, editorial activity and Nike-related projects, with no subsequent fashion-house leadership appointment verified by July 2026.

Tisci brings devotion, sexuality and dark romanticism into contact with sportswear and popular image. Lace, beads, corsetry and close tailoring sit beside jersey, bombers, graphics and trainers, allowing couture labour to remain visible inside a broader commercial wardrobe.

His silhouette moves between elongated tailoring, body-conscious evening dress and layered athletic forms. Menswear has served as a testing ground for skirts, leggings, shorts and ceremonial graphics; accessories and footwear are treated as part of the complete image rather than as additions to the runway.

At Burberry, Tisci widened the house beyond a singular heritage reading. Tailoring, outerwear and check remained present, but the TB monogram, streetwear, collaboration capsules and more plural casting redistributed emphasis across customer, gender and category. The strongest work depends on this tension between institutional code and personal iconography.

Campaign and performance authorship remained deliberately multiple. Photographers, Peter Saville, Vivienne Westwood, Andreas Kronthaler, Anne Imhof, Eliza Douglas, Arca and the Labèque sisters retain separate project credit within the creative system he directed.