Live-streamed in 3-D to various venues around the world, Burberry Prorsum’s fall show proved a major point of fascination within the industry and beyond. Luckily, Christopher Bailey’s fashion lived up to the hype. Here, Burberry’s chief executive officer, Angela Ahrendts, talks about the moment, and calls the Internet “just another channel.”
The Burberry Prorsum show was a major moment. Everyone was fascinated.
I told our team…the collection and the moment were absolutely magical. I think some of the digital things the team was able to accomplish were absolutely monumental.
With so many houses live-streaming, do you think it makes sense to shift the shows to a retail timetable?
I don’t think it’s time. At least for Burberry, we need to keep the shows very special. The shows need to be when Christopher [Bailey]’s artistic expression just comes together in its purest form. He needs the time to do that, and then we need the appropriate time to manufacture it. We’re pretty fast. Also, the consumer that you’re taking it to [via live-streaming] is the early adopter, the innovator. It’s not like the show is going out to the masses. It’s almost like you’re giving the high net-worth individual a totally new experience, something to excite and entice them again.
What do you think of the current timing of the shows?
For us, the timing of the shows and everything is terrific. In terms of the cycle, it’s a pretty fast cycle. For example, we just showed in February and, yes, we offered a large part of the collection for which we had decided to pre-buy raw materials, et cetera [for sale right away]. But the rest will get to the customer when fall would traditionally ship, during the August time period.
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Do you still believe the trade aspect for the fashion show system?
Absolutely. We still do 40 or some odd percent of our business through third-party wholesale partners. The trade for us is so important, whether that’s the press or our third-party wholesale customers, because that’s still a big part of our business today.
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Can you define the function of the shows today?
It’s not just one thing. It’s a combination. We’re a brand, right? We are a big, 1.2 billion sterling, which is nearly $2 billion, publicly traded brand that plays in 50 countries around the world. As a brand, we have got to have a very pure message that comes out. The runway show is the pinnacle, it’s where Christopher’s new vision for the season comes together and he launches it for the world to see. It is for our magazine partners because the brand needs the 260 magazine covers that we’ve gotten in a year. So, it’s a branding vehicle, it’s a marketing vehicle, again for traditional publications; it’s a sales vehicle for our partners, et cetera. And it’s a tremendous p.r. vehicle. It’s really multipurpose, but the number-one thing to me, it’s a way to show the brand message at a specific point [in a way that is] enticing and exciting. The emotions that this show has evoked are amazing. Now what we’re doing is starting to play with the show across multiple channels — you’ve got the wholesale channel and the retail channels, you’ve got the digital channel and the magazines. I don’t think it’s one or the other in the future. I just think [digital] is another channel.
Talk about the instant availability of merchandise from the fall show.
We kind of did it as a test. Again, we’re a big company, so I don’t ever envision doing it in a mass way. We did it because our instincts are that we have a lot of customers who come to a traditional trunk show. These are real jet-setting, trend-setting consumers. That’s who this was for. An average consumer is not going to buy a coat six, seven months before they need it.
What do you think of the idea that runway collections should be delivered later?
I don’t think so. We ship the pre-line in June and July, which is when pre-fall should be, and then we ship the runway collection in August, September. We’re on a pretty rigid calendar that works perfectly for us right now. Christopher and I put this new calendar in place about three-and-a-half years ago. I would say we’re probably a little quicker than maybe some of our competitors.