Tems Wants an Obnoxiously High Heel From Burberry SS24

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.

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.

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.

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.