Tyson Beckford Is Loving Men's Fashion Again

“It’s not your grandparents’ Burberry. It’s new era, a new age,” Tyson Beckford, star of the famed British label’s new outerwear campaign, tells me. But while this fashion collection may not be your grandparents’ Burberry, the supermodel’s own journey in fashion is largely attributed to his grandmother.

“My grandmother was a seamstress, so I was always around fashion," he explains. "My uncles would always bring back fashion magazines and as a kid, I would be looking at them like, 'Wow, this is so cool. I can do that.'"

The 54-year-old model and actor continues: “I guess I soaked up all those poses and some of those inspirations. So when somebody would tell me to go over there and stand, I knew how to stand. I knew how to pose. Like shooting in front of Bruce Webber—it just came natural to me. Nobody taught me; I just knew from looking at all of those fashion magazines in the '70s and '80s.”

Now, Beckford is the one providing inspiration for the next generation. His role in Burberry’s latest campaign, It’s Always Burberry Weather: Postcards From London, showcases his natural modeling aptitude and even dips into his acting arsenal. The campaign features four short films directed by John Madden, starring Olivia Colman alongside Beckford and other international supermodels. “Each film celebrates just a few of the many characters you’ll encounter in London,” says Burberry’s chief creative officer Daniel Lee.

"I’ve had friends that have worked for them for many years, like Cara Delevigne, Kate Moss—they are so British and so fitting of the brand. I would never think that they would take a Jamaican American," Beckford says.

Beckford’s short scene captures him as an American tourist, eating ice cream and watching cricket alongside Colman, a local Londoner and cricket enthusiast. Both are clad in classic Burberry trenches and the duo’s comedic interaction highlights the brand’s playful nature.

Burberry’s campaign brings a refreshing fun back to fashion, something that Beckford was excited to be a part of. During our conversation, he took me behind the scenes of the campaign, and then offered a deeper dive into the past decades of fashion—all the way back to the beginning of his career, which began in Jamaica behind his grandmother’s Singer machine.

"I’m so proud of it. It came out way better than I even expected. I knew we were taking good pictures, but you downplay things so that you're not disappointed. But man, was I excited to see this. I mean, for me to work with an Academy Award-winning actress like Olivia—it was just amazing. And the director is also an Academy Award-winning director. It was all incredible. It felt like I was in a dream. It looked really good. I’ve watched it a few times myself and I said to a friend of mine, “Yo, this is some of the best acting I’ve ever done.” If only my acting coach could see me now.

"I didn't have a relationship with Burberry before. I was so shocked that when the call came in I said, 'Burberry? For me? Are you sure?' I’ve had friends that have worked for them for many years, like Cara Delevigne, Kate Moss—they are so British and so fitting of the brand. I would never think that they would take a Jamaican American. I was actually on holiday when they asked me to do the video. Here I was in the Florida Keys, and we’re talking about trench coats in London. And they were like—this is our guy. It’s so great to work with such great people. You know, I put my outfit on and they asked my opinion. A lot of designers don’t care what you think of clothes. But Burberry was like, 'What do you think? Would you wear it like this? How would you wear this?' It’s so nice when people value your opinion."

"I actually thought I was going to be a designer at one point because I was cutting those patterns so much. But just seeing how sharp those scissors were. ’Wow, these scissors are sharp, Grandma!’ And she was just like, ’Yes, be careful. Follow the line.’"

"I think I was a little lost for a while. So much of the fashion was nothing that I would even consider wearing or wanting to walk in the show. But it’s coming back around. It’s getting more masculine again, if that makes sense. It just seemed for so long that men’s fashion was very young and boyish. We—me and some of the other models from when I started out—care about the legacy of fashion. Fashion is where we made our celebrity. Some of us, like myself, are going in other directions, making movies and TV shows, but our heart, our core, and our love is fashion."

"My grandmother would let me cut out the patterns. She had a Singer machine, and she would say, 'Go ahead, you can push the gas pedal.' That was how I learned to do it. She would be like, 'No, don’t just jam on it. You’ve got to press it through. Follow the dotted line of the pattern. Okay, cut the thread.' There were so many little things. It was just so intriguing to watch her work. Like, Wow you made a dress out of that? I actually thought I was going to be a designer at one point because I was cutting those patterns so much. But just seeing how sharp those scissors were. 'Wow, these scissors are sharp, Grandma!' And she was just like, 'Yes, be careful. Follow the line.' I’m like 5, 6 years old learning how to hem and replace a button.

"It stuck with me. Because then I got to Home Economics in school, and I got an A-plus in the sewing class. I out-sewed everyone in the class. The teacher pulled me aside, and was like, 'Wait a minute, how do you know how to do this?' And I said it was because of my grandmother and her Singer. And the teacher was like, 'You know about Singers?' Yeah! I would even help the other kids put the thimble in there, and sew it up."

"I wrote a TV series called Pretty Boy. It's loosely based on how I grew up in Jamaica, moved to the States, and got into fashion—and how I also got myself into some unsavory characters on the street. It follows how I try to move away from that and move towards being discovered. It takes us to Milan. It takes us to Paris. It takes us to Jamaica and Miami. It would just be a fun thing to produce and make, because then we would be going back to '90s fashion. So we’ve been shopping the show to all the different networks for the past six months, and we have a few people very interested in it."