Behind Burberry’s new Christmas animations there seems to be a small mystery. The creator appears to be an animator who goes by the name @xvybz on Instagram, a nearly empty profile made up of very few posts, all as cryptic as they are fascinating. In the latest one, you can barely see a rabbit coming out of (or entering?) a car — perhaps in Milan? — followed by an illustrated pair of scissors, an ethernet cable, and a modem. An aesthetic that seems to draw from imagery tied to connection, the digital world, and a certain almost retro, slightly surreal corner of the internet. In short, as we anticipated: a real mystery.
The animations for Burberry, on the other hand, build a small universe that is simple but instantly impactful. Populated by the brand’s iconic equestrian knights, the holiday theme is treated with a lightness that avoids any festive rhetoric. These figures — at times enigmatic, at times almost comical — move in mechanical, repetitive motions that recall pre-Christmas preparations seen from a parallel dimension. There are the iconic Burberry scarves, branded chocolate, and even an animated scarf bar that is probably the most amusing detail of the series.
So, even if we don’t know who is really behind @xvybz, their animations instantly caught our attention. We suspect there may be a connection to Milan — or so the scattered clues seem to suggest — and we are genuinely curious to see what else they’ll choose to animate in the coming months.
