Burberry are causing a commotion with their recent announcement of their upcoming season-less runway show that will see both womenswear and menswear collections together in one new format presented to the world for the brand’s first inaugural straight-to-consumer runway show at London Fashion Week.
Throwing away the fuss of showing countless seasonal collections split into genders Burberry have stripped down to the real nitty-gritty to reveal both masculine and feminine elements fused into one heritage collection of artisan worked pieces that embellish the core sartorial luxury of Burberry.
Burberry will show at 7:30pm (BST) on Monday 19 September on the official London Fashion Week schedule, making a move from Kensington Gardens to Soho’s ‘Makers House’ and marking a turnaround from the spectacle of onlooker crowds towards a more direct connection with fans, friends and ambassadors of the Burberry brand.
Taking on a new perspective Burberry are creating a clear communication with people from every far-flung corner of the world and shifting product focus onto a different global climatic pattern. The full collection builds on products that are more exclusive for specific stores giving wholesale partners the opportunity to buy for specific customers then host live-streams from LFW direct to their stores enabling customers to try on and shop the collection immediately.
The September show will also be supported by an international digital and print advertising campaign scheduled to launch as soon as the runway show ends allowing instant access to all areas of this global collection of men’s and women’s products. The full campaign won’t be fully exposed in its entirety until then but Burberry have sent out a teaser in the meantime giving you a peep at some of the pieces from the next phase of evolution.
Burberry’s September collection influenced by Virginia Woolf's Orlando, contrasts masculine and feminine styles across different periods in history captured here in the sculpture gallery at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool by photographer Mario Testino
Consistently good at grasping technological and conceptual innovations Burberry launched their own global e-commerce site back in 2006 and in 2009 live-streamed the first ever runway show from London Fashion Week. Sharing shows online and allowing select items for straight to buy purchase was a giant move forward but completely closing the gap between runway and retail operations and fully aligning these two processes in perfect synchronization is a complete breakthrough.
The British Fashion Council have long been discussing the future of fashion shows and the reality of them becoming consumer focused events. The rise of social media has pushed the exclusive yet antiquated ‘Haute Couture’ model out of date and is forcing the industry to evolve into real time with customers.
This is the beginning of the consolidation of all Burberry labels including Burberry Brit and Burberry London into the main Burberry Prorsum collection as Christopher Bailey shifts gear into transition control and guides Britain’s best loved heritage brand into the future.
Christopher Bailey joined Burberry as Design Director in 2001. His journey has taken the Burberry brand from the stiff upper lip of establishment and made it accessible to a modern market of followers and tribes who are in the proof business of fashion.
The Burberry Check and Equestrian Knight logo developed as registered trademarks served as authentic badges of heritage to celebrities and football players throughout the first half of the noughties resulting in Bailey having to ride out five very public years of chav and football hooligan association. Eventually removing the check pattern from all but 10% of the brand’s product and successfully marking a complete turnaround that led him into the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2009 going on to be appointed a dual role becoming Chief Creative Officer as well as Chief Executive Officer in 2014.
Christopher Bailey’s recent decision that he will be stepping aside as Chief Executive Officer and making way for Marco Gobbetti came in the wake of shareholders expressing their concerns for Bailey to continue in his dual role as they watched shares drop by 36% last year. Bailey will remain as Chief Creative Officer and now also become President at Burberry.
Marco Gobbetti is leaving Celine for Burberry and will partner with Christopher Bailey in 2017 to oversee all elements of the Burberry brand and design. Gobbetti has been a rising star since 2004 when he left Moschino to join Givenchy as CEO. After orchestrating a revival and recruiting a young, unknown Italian designer Riccardo Tisci as couturier, Gobbetti left Givenchy in 2008 and headed to French luxury brand Celine. Alongside designer Phoebe Philo, Marco helped engineer the rejuvenation of the French house of Celine into one of the most credible and coveted brands in fashion today. Upon the news Burberry shares closed on a high jumping 7.9% the strongest in three years.
Burberry are also partnering with The New Craftsman to create a daily changing programme of activities and installations collaborating with some of the finest craft makers across Europe. Launching at Makers House and coinciding with the launch of the inaugural ‘See Now Buy Now’ Burberry collection the showcase will include original works inspired by the new Burberry wardrobe and is open to visitors from 21-27 September.
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