The Golden Age of Burberry | By Rosie Pentreath

How Angela Ahrendts and Christopher Bailey saved a great British brand...

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he maxim contained in the logo of the British luxury fashion house Burberry – prorsum, meaning ‘forwards’ – is as fitting today as it was when the company pioneered its revolutionary gabardine fabric in 1880. For the brand’s CEO Angela Ahrendts has been announced as the first ever female to be the highest paid executive in Britain. Ahrendts, currently ranked number 53 on the Forbes list of Power Women and one of only three women featured in the FTSE 100, is as forward thinking as they come. With her shrewd discernment she has transformed a traditional trench coat brand into an unassailable global fashion force in just six years. Through savvy social media campaigns, fabulous Fashion Week shows, irresistible celebrity editorials and ultra-cool spin-offs such as the Burberry Acoustic music sessions, her and creative director Christopher Bailey have completely changed the face of Burberry since they took over in 2006. The fashion label has been on a tumultuous journey – from pioneering to inconsequential, and back again – to look as hot as it does today.

Model of the moment Cara Delevigne walking at Burberry’s Autumn/Winter 2013 show

When Thomas Burberry founded his small outfitters in Basingstoke in 1856 he was modestly fitting men and mountaineers in well-designed sports and outerwear. But when he invented a brand new fabric it became clear that he was on to something special. Gabardine, which Burberry patented in 1888, proved light and breathable yet hardwearing and durable enough for the toughest of British winters. The prorsum motto was already the right fit for this his ambitions and it became even more so in 1914 when Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt their officer’s coat into a garment suitable for modern warfare. The iconic British trench was born.

The lustre around the Burberry name hasn’t always shone bright however. What was revolutionary and covetable at the beginning of the twentieth century had become staid and enervated by the end of it. By the 2000s the brand had earned a poor reputation thanks to a laissez-faire attitude towards licensing, resulting in the proliferation of the trademark tartan across cheap products and among rowdy football fans and night club frequenters. Ahrendts herself was one of the tastemakers who cleverly pin-pointed Burberry’s image crisis right away.

She viewed the brand’s close association with such figures as

the Eastenders actress Daniella Westbrook, who was pictured head-to-toe in Burberry check in 2003, as a disaster. This was no fabulous high fashion moment. In general terms the instantlyrecognisable tartan had become the uniform of the downmarket fashion victim. And you know a brand is in trouble when bars have to ban punters entry for adorning its trademark garments.

It was three years later that Angela Ahrendts teamed up with the London-based designer Christopher Bailey and the pair came to the rescue. 2006 marked the beginning of Burberry’s recovery and rise to the status of one of the most powerful forces in the fashion industry today.

Spring/summer 2013 was a standout season driven by innovative marketing, cohesive monthly fashion groups and exceptional execution When Ahrendts came to the helm, she cleaned up Burberry’s worldwide operation and pulled the creative licenses under unified supervision. The most recent product line to be brought directly under Burberry’s control was fragrance and beauty, the full license for which Burberry acquired in April 2013. Fragrance and beauty is now Burberry’s fifth product division alongside women’s wear, men’s wear, children’s wear and accessories. Commenting on the acquisition, Ahrendts stated, “Directly operating fragrance and beauty is in line with our strategy of taking greater control of the brand. There are significant opportunities to accelerate the growth of this business over time, leveraging out infrastructure and that of existing key suppliers and distributors.” She continued, “We are very excited about fragrance and beauty becoming an important fifth product division for Burberry as we can more closely align it with our core business and brand positioning.”

All creative decisions for these product divisions have to be approved by Bailey before they can be implemented. Ahrendts’ insistence on this is what has made Burberry as strong and aesthetically polished as it is today. Bailey first worked with Ahrendts at Donna Karan in New York before the pair were reunited for their adventure with Burberry. Although Bailey was appointed CCO in 2001, it is his collaboration with Ahrendts that has proved invaluable for the brand. Under her supervision, and with her support, he has built the brand up to its position as a market leader today. It is Bailey’s impeccable design that brought Burberry back to London Fashion Week in 2009 and since then the show has proved a sell-out each season, with the hottest names in fashion, film and music taking front row seats.

With Angela Ahrendts and Christopher Bailey, Burberry has been restored to the glory it basked in a hundred years ago.

This is Burberry’s golden age – the balance between artistic creativity, technological innovation and financial strength is practically perfect. The almost-dowdy business woman from the mid-west of America seemed at first an odd fit for a traditional British company. Originally from a small town in

Outgoing CEO Angela Ahrents and her replacement, former CCO Christopher Bailey

Indiana, Ahrendts maintains that for her, ‘it was always fashion’.

Graduating in Merchandising and Marketing from Ball State University (she enrolled as a fashion designer before changing courses), she worked her way up the fashion career ladder with stints at Donna Karan International (1989-1996) and Liz Clairbourne Inc. (2002-2005). It was her evident devotion and gained experience that made her the right choice for Burberry.

Despite not being British, and being reluctant to uproot her family from their home in New York, her predecessor Rose Marie Bravo knew she had to be persuaded. At a subsequent dinner,

What was revolutionary and covetable at the beginning of the twentieth century had become staid and enervated by the end of it Ahrendts and Bailey tallied up their ideas for the company on the back of a napkin and found their visions were almost identical. Their unity would see Burberry through.

Burberry’s Social Networking Reach:

Jake Bugg performing at one of Burberry Acoustic’s concerts

Burberry is a case study in the difference one individual can make

15,704,399

74,557

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2,953,941

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Angela is always front row centre, here flanked by the likes of Mario Testino and Emma Watson

At the time of writing, Burberry has more than fifteen and half million ‘likes’ on Facebook and the Twitter following is over two million, the highest number of any fashion label. The digital marketing model is, as of yet, unrivalled. The teaser video for the spring/summer 2013 campaign received one million views in just 48 hours. Among the most innovative and financially advantageous elements are the live shows. Each catwalk show is streamed in realtime and the featured designs are ready to buy instantly and with personalised touches. Instead of waiting months for journalists to decide which trends to elevate and, in turn, waiting for local department stores to stock the latest season, consumers have the newest cuts, fabrics and colours available at the click of a button. Never before have we felt so close to the clothes we covet. Christopher Bailey seems to have a talent for knowing what we want before we do.

The figures support this. According to Burberry’s latest trading update the company achieved a total revenue of £339m in the first quarter of this year (compared to £135m in 2006), with store sales up 13% on the last quarter. Ahrendts commented, “We are pleased with our first quarter retail performance. Spring/ Summer 2013 was a standout season driven by innovative marketing, cohesive monthly fashion groups and exceptional execution from all corporate and regional teams.”

If all the technological innovations were threatening to make Burberry seem cold and, dare I say it, removed from the more ‘sentimental’ aspects of fashion, the brand has covered those bases too. Burberry has teamed up with Google to host ‘Burberry Kisses’, a web strategy that aims to ‘humanise’ technology. A user kisses their computer or smartphone screen – yes, a real kiss – and the imprint forms a graphic (in your shade of choice from Burberry’s latest beauty collection, of course) which

is ‘sent’ across the country with a personal message enclosed.

It is schmaltzy and frivolous perhaps, but a well-animated and charmingly-realised piece of software. For those who prefer an edgier approach to their humanised fashion there is Burberry Acoustic. The virtual and physical performing platform features sessions from musicians handpicked by Bailey, already known for his poignant use of music in shows, in specially made videos and at live Burberry events. Each artist has a place in Burberry’s impressive online universe, featured as they are on a special part of Burberry.com and on a Youtube channel devoted to the artists. Tom Odell, Marika Hackman, Jake Bugg and Keane are just a few of the acts on the line up. The aesthetic is folky and cool, and it is a far cry from the sticky nightclubs that the Burberry check used to be associated with.

Along with the pioneering online strategies, Burberry has opened several flagship stores since 2006, including the exceptional Regent Street store that is designed to look and feel like Burberry.com. Called ‘Burberry World Live’, the store aims to ‘seamlessly blur physical and digital worlds.’ Complete with interactive mirrors that transform into personalised shopping platforms, screens that broadcast live events from across the world and concerts featuring Burberry Accoustic artists, the store is the perfect microcosm of everything Ahrendts and Bailey have done right for the brand.

The level of luxury that Burberry caters for has established it well in the Eastern market as well. The revenue in the AsiaPacific region accounted for 35% of sales in the first quarter of 2013. China in particular is a success story for Ahrendts’ Burberry.

The CEO was clever to capture the market early on and the brand has achieved priority on many of China’s social networking sites, including Sina Weibo (similar to Twitter), Renren (equivalent to Facebook) and Youku (the country’s version of Youtube). When Chinese Actor Chen Kun attended the Burberry menswear show in June he posted his enthusiasm for event to the 48 million followers he has on Sina Weibo. This is just one example, but with exposure like this it is no wonder that Burberry has been going from strength to stylish strength.

at Apple, leaving Christopher Bailey to replace her as CEO, came as a shock. Here was someone at the peak of her career, having turned an iconic British retailer into a global brand. But perhaps herein lies the answer: Angela Ahrendts is clearly a woman of vision, one who may have felt her job at Burberry was complete.

It was time for a new challenge. There is no doubt that Apple is at the forefront of its industry, but it faces stiff competition from the likes of Samsung in particular. In the ensuing fight, Ahrendts could prove to be instrumental.

Back at home, the Burberry catwalk show has become one of the hottest tickets at London Fashion Week. As if there are not enough celebrity faces to spot in the front row, a quick glimpse at the recent editorial campaigns will reveal an all-star cast. Recent rumours suggest that the next will be fronted by Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and his girlfriend Kim Sears. This is a sure-fire way to capture the fashion-crowd’s imagination, not to mention that of the public at large.

The message from Burberry’s board was always one of contentment and utmost respect for their CEO. Ahrendts’ pay package made her the highest earning CEO in Britain and £5m ahead of the next highest earning executive – £16.9m is a figure that does not go unnoticed – and even that was waved through by a general meeting of Burberry’s legal arm relatively painlessly. Besides, Ahrendts did well when she donated 10% of her earnings to the Burberry Foundation, a charity she founded in 2008 to support opportunities for young people. To many, the news in 2013 that she would soon depart to take on a senior role

Burberry is a case study in the difference one individual can make. The beautiful thing that we see today is unquestionably the result of Christopher Bailey’s artistic vision. But without Ahrendts this vision may have never have been fulfilled. Bailey was actually creative director as far back as 2001 (two years before that disastrous head-to-toe tartan photo of Westbrook was taken) and it took Ahrendts’ authority to minimalise the amount of tartan on show in the garments, gather in control of Burberry production and mastermind advertising campaigns significant enough to put the brand back on the map of fashion’s most innovative pioneers. When she departs for Apple next year, Bailey will find his mettle tested again when he replaces her as CEO. The world has already seen his creative genius, but his business acumen is yet to be proven. What Ahrendts achieved was the perfect combination of the latest and most popular technologies with the strength of timeless style. Burberry’s ‘prorsum’ trademark proved prophetic once again, we can but hope it does so in Angela’s wake.

Burberry’s flagship Regent Street Store