Burberry Prorsum:
Heritage Embraces the Digital Fountain of Youth
October 6, 2009
Fashion critics don’t get much warmer or fuzzier than they did at the unveiling of Burberry Prorsum’s Spring 2010 line at this year’s London Fashion Week. A critic’s scorn is rarely more stinging than within the realm of fashion, so when the highly anticipated show left the critics fawning, head designer Christopher Bailey must have breathed a long sigh of relief.
British Vogue called it Bailey’s best collection yet, while Style.com described the line as glamorous and youthful. Some went so far as to say Bailey had completely redefined the trench coat. Considering the focus on Burberry’s youthfulness and fashion forward bent, it’s hard to believe that just over 10 years ago the line was, according to The New York Times, a “moldering, old British clothing line” unable to shake off its tradition of producing drab, durable, military jackets.
In 1997, the 150-year-old clothing line – then named Burberrys - called on the talents of a former president of Saks Fifth Avenue and a designer from Jil Sander (Rose Marie Bravo and Roberto Menichetti, respectively) to redefine the stodgy label for the modern day. The duo did so by first researching and evaluating the label’s design history, brand voice, and core strengths.
The trench coats, the innovative fabrics, and the now-iconic plaid designs, all of which are praised by critics today, were already ingrained in the brand’s history. The company just needed to shake off a layer of dust for these previously undervalued assets to shine. Moreover, the ‘s’ was dropped from the name, thus the current Burberry moniker; trench coats were streamlined, stripped of excess epaulets and tabs; and a previously anonymous women’s line was pulled into the spotlight.
The brand’s reinvention was a delicate tightrope act, and a challenge that should be familiar to any brand that’s steeped in history yet seeks to maintain relevance. A traditional brand should always capitalize on its history (Otherwise, why not just create a completely new brand?). On the other hand, a little flexibility with history and tradition can keep things fresh and reinvigorate it.
As Newsweek has noted, Burberry’s eponymous founder was an anti-alcohol crusader who “died at 91 after catching a chill while preaching at a Salvation Army meeting— hardly the model of fun-loving fashionista that today’s Burberry would seem to appeal to.” If storied brands can learn anything from Burberry, it’s that “heritage must be used judiciously.”
It’s hard to think of many brands that have so radically reinvented themselves like Burberry. The surprising nature of Burberry’s unbridled success points to the acute difficulty of sudden brand renewal. The economic downturn has rendered brand renewal all the more difficult; it has been the ultimate stress test for the fashion industry at large.
The digital revolution is, of course, another hurdle that has left many traditional brands scratching their heads. The purists vehemently reject technological changes and purposely overlook them. Others, fearful of the changes that could come about, plunge in various directions without clearly formulating brand-aligned strategies.
One advantage of the historical label is its customers’ loyalty. Parents tend to pass familiar brands down to their children, giving brand loyalty a constant regenerative quality. Yet, with the advent of various digital technologies, a chasm has surfaced between generations. Younger people are engaging in new habits, communicating differently, and, in essence, speaking a new language. To remain relevant to new generations, older brands must now prove that they’re sharp, dynamic, and aware of technological, social, and psychographic trends.
Burberry has successfully catered to the next generation of fashion-conscious bourgeoisie by demonstrating that it is both fashion forward and tech forward (prorsum is, after all, the Latin word for forwards).
The label has exhibited its tech savvy by taking forays into the world of social media. More notable than the company’s Twitter and Facebook pages is a project called Art of the Trench, a label-specific social networking site that will encourage customers to post photos of themselves wearing Burberry trench coats. Like several prestige fashion houses, Burberry also took a more digital approach to their Fashion Week show by broadcasting a live feed of the runway over the Internet. Clearly the label hasn’t just updated its clothing designs. It has also updated the nature by which it engages and informs its customers.
A team of talented managers and designers, plus an extra dash of digital bravado have proven to be exactly what Burberry needs not only to stay afloat, but to stay on top.
Sources:
“Burberry to launch social networking site,” tenayagroup.com;
“Old Brands, New Tricks,” newsweek.com;
“Burberry Modernizes and Reinvents Itself,” www.nytimes.com.
“The Critics Hail Burberry’s Return; Ogle Twenty8Twelve’s ‘Morning After Chic,’” www.nymag.com.
Photos courtesy of: TARTAN Romancing the Plaid (via theselvedgeyard.files.wordpress.com);
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