Burberry and The Face team up with Marcus Rashford to make children the heroes of their own stories

Burberry have created an iconic mural in collaboration with footballer Marcus Rashford MBE, this time to promote his pioneering work to improve children’s literacy.

Featuring a stunning collage of words and images created by school children, the mural encourages young people to nurture the power of their imagination and ‘Be the hero of your own story’.

Marcus has been working with Burberry, the National Literacy Trust and Macmillan Children’s Books, to improve literacy skills in under-served communities across Manchester, Yorkshire and London. 

Through funding provided to transform school libraries, book donations and teacher training, the initiative is helping disadvantaged children develop literacy skills, broaden their imagination and unlock new opportunities. 

To celebrate these initiatives, Burberry and THE FACE have created a limited-edition zine entitled ‘Dreamscapes’.

The zine showcases the work of the children from Holmleigh Primary School in North London, one of the sites supported by the initiative launched in November. Enlisting the creative mind of multidisciplinary artist Tegen Williams, Burberry and THE FACE co-hosted workshops with groups in years 3 and 6, prompting students to creatively express their dreams. To encourage the students to think beyond their everyday reality, each pupil was asked to sketch and write about themselves as the heroes of their own futures.

Their art makes up the pages of the zine, alongside collages by Tegen Williams and imagery from the launch of the charity initiative shot by Campbell Addy. The drawings, reimagined in a tapestry of imagination by Williams before being painted form a mural crafted specifically for the children's neighbourhood on Tottenham High Road, London.

The A4 zine is printed in a limited-edition run of 1000 copies which will be distributed to a select network of art and community spaces in local Tottenham community spaces as well as broader locations in London and Manchester. The children’s artwork will also be displayed in the windows of stores including Artwords on Broadway Market, MagCulture on St. John’s Street & Unit on Steven Square.

DentsuMB UK handled the production and implementation of the work in close collaboration with Burberry, The Face, Vizeum Global, photographer Campbell Addy and artist Tegen Williams.

Burberry famously unveiled an iconic mural of Marcus Rashford, showing the footballer as both man and boy, in Manchester in December 2020.