Londoners slam decision to rename Bond Street 'Burberry Street'

‘I thought I’d lost my mind after 12 hour night shift’ Confused Londoners slam decision to rename Bond Street ‘Burberry Street’ to mark London Fashion Week

  • Platform signage and station logos repainted knight blue to match fashion brand
  • But the rebrand is confusing visitors with even platform map signs changed 

Visitors were left confused after a central London tube station was rebranded after a prominent fashion house.

Bond Street station, located in the heart of the West End shopping district, has been renamed ‘Burberry Street’ by TfL for this year’s London Fashion Week.

But both Londoners and tourists to the capital have been left baffled by the sudden change, which saw platform signs repainted knight blue, as a nod to one of Burberry’s new brand colours.

The usual red and blue tube logos have also been replaced with new all blue ‘Burberry Street’ roundels.

Reporter Maddie Dunne commented: ‘Yes the Burberry takeover of Bond Street is cool but it also had me thinking I’d completely lost my mind on the way home from a 12 hour night shift.’ 

Bond Street station has been renamed ‘Burberry Street’ in a temporary rebrand for London Fashion Week

But the new signage has caused confusion for tourists who have found themselves missing the stop 

Platform signs and roundel logos have been painted knight blue, the same shade as one of the colours of the Burberry brand

The renamed station is located in the middle of the West End’s shopping district near New Bond Street and Oxford Street

Olivia Utley wrote: ‘Cannot get over the stupidity of TfL renaming Bond Street ‘Burberry Street’ for the sake of an ad partnership. 

‘Some poor elderly man just asked me in a panic if he’d missed Bond Street (3 stops past Bond St). This must happen hundreds of times a day.’

Meanwhile Tom Harwood described the decision as ‘moronic’. 

Some station maps were also altered to show the station’s temporary name. 

But to add to the confusion, destination announcements and signs on trains still say ‘Bond Street’.

Another user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote that the makeover was a ‘disservice to customers’.

Westminster councillor and London Assembly member Tony Devenish quoted tennis commentator and former player John McEnroe’s famous line ‘You cannot be serious’.

Users criticised the move to temporarily rename the station after a sponsor, saying tha

Another remarked that the Burberry makeover had them thinking they had ‘lost their mind’ on the way home from a night shift

2021 Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey touted corporate sponsorship for stations and even entire lines during his campaign

The idea of naming Tube stations and entire lines after brands in a sponsorship deal was previously touted by the 2021 Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey as a way to service TfL’s large debt.

Earlier this year, Sadiq Khan was considering axing day travelcards for Londoners in an attempt to raise income to fill the operator’s £740million funding shortfall. 

London stations have previously been temporarily rebranded, including Canada Water, which was dubbed ‘Buxton Water’ in a deal for the London Marathon in 2015 worth £110,000.

The station is served by the Central and Jubilee lines, as well as the relatively new Elizabeth Line.

A spokesperson for TfL said: ‘TfL has delivered a number of temporary station renamings in recent years and while the station is branded ‘Burberry Street’, in-train announcements, announcements within the stations and staff on platforms will help customers should they require it.’

It added that some roundels in corridors linking lines had not been changed. 

The temporary takeover is due to end on Tuesday. 

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