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GQ INC. | EVOLUTION There’s more T o opera Ting a successful fashion label T han The making of a simply running up a nice pair of s Trides on a sewing machin e. we go inside one of T he brands T haT’s doing i T bes T. 21sT cen Tury brand words ceri david 148 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 149 GQ INC. | EVOLUTION It’s 10pm on a Tuesday nigh T Naturally, the band is dressed in Burberry. specific axis of evil, where celebrities and “We don’t normally look this smart,” Wilson bogans collide. and 900 of l ondon’s hip quips into the mic, before taking off his Founded by Thomas Burberry in 1856, blazer, draping it neatly on a coathanger, and the label’s early highlights include dressing young T hings are sardined hooking it on the drum kit behind him. With Sir Ernest Shackleton for his Antarctica pitch-perfect wit, he goes on to tut at the expedition, and kitting out World War I inTo T he b urberry flagship crowd for not being as good as the one at the officers with raincoats for use in the trenches Chiefs’ last gig, joking that it was at Hamleys – aka, you guessed it, “trench” coats. sTore on r egenT St reeT. – the world-famous toy shop across the road. Built on that heritage, things had been It’s a cute, meta-tastic nod to the fact this is going well, until the late 1990s when, among no ordinary concert. The audience loves it. a certain faction of the clothes-buying public, I, for one, can’t remember ever before designer labels had become the holy grail. Champagne is flowing like it’s a basic human sipping French champagne at an indie gig And if hard-earned cash was going to be right; body heat and boozy chatter fills the – and from an actual flute. What makes it blown, they weren’t going to make a secret of air. Everyone has one eye on the circling all the more surreal is it’s happening with it. The more branding and logos, the better. canapés and the other on the stage, as mannequins and various pods of floor stock In Burberry’s case, the trademark camel- anticipation builds. And builds, until... still dotted around. Every now and then coloured check made a dramatic escape from “Hello London!” yells Ricky Wilson, there’s a smash and a shriek, and I hope A host of entries the lining of its coats, and started appearing featured on the Kaiser Chiefs frontman, in ironic stadium- Burberry has thought this through. brand’s ‘Art of on baseball caps, scarves, shoes, T-shirts – rock style. “I can’t hear you!” Then, across the room, I catch a glimpse Trench’ blog. sometimes all in the same outfit. The crowd surges forward for a better of Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s Chief Yes, Burberry was selling, but economists view, filling every nook of the huge ground- Creative Officer, nice guy and all-round felt the brand had been so badly devalued by floor space, and up on the mezzanine – the business genius, and I know I needn’t worry. “It’s a richer experience than what some its association with the UK’s “chav culture”, store was a cinema in its original incarnation, people see as just a luxury fashion brand,” he football hooliganism and D-list soap stars when it was built in 1820 – countless iPhones says, with a pause and a smile. “It’s fun.” that it may not bounce back. reach out, lighting up the dark to record And he’s right – it is fun, whether it’s one Looking at the brand today, in 2013, “you can’ T be one-dimensional. from on high. of the Live at 121 gigs; the ‘Art of Trench’ it’s easy to dismiss those opinions as The Kaiser Chiefs gig kicks off Live at It has to be more than just clothes,” says blog, where people send in snapshots of scaremongering and to view the dark days 121 Regent Street – a series of intimate events Bailey. It’s earlier the same day, a few hours themselves in Burberry raincoats, in the hope as a minor blip on Burberry’s timeline. bringing together British music and fashion, before the concert begins, and we’re sitting in of being featured; or watching the runway But in truth, the company spent a lot of and the atmosphere is electric – hardly his white, airy, immaculate office – much like shows streamed live, online and to stores time, effort and a huge amount of money to surprising given tickets to the glitzy soiree heaven as often portrayed in films – at the around the world. If it weren’t fun, how else win back credibility, with three influential were free. top of the company’s seven-storey London to explain the fact Burberry has more than people given credit for the transformation: HQ. “You have to create an environment 15 million fans on Facebook. (To put that Angela Ahrendts, the company’s current around clothes to create context. Then into perspective, GQ Australia has just over CEO, her predecessor, Rose Marie Bravo around the environment, you have to create 20,000, and we’re really proud of that.) and of course, Bailey. a spirit and an energy. And around that, you It’s a strategy that’s clearly working. In The campaign to realign the brand with have to create an audience that’s excited about May, the company reported a 14 per cent rise its roots was a mammoth clean-up effort, what you’re doing.” in annual profits, to $708m – better than even spanning several years. Licences were It sounds complicated, but it’s not. The Burberry forecast. Sales of menswear alone terminated (from 32 product licenses in same mentality makes people embrace grew by 40 per cent in 2012. 1998 to three in 2011), retail outlets were the Apple generation, even though the Of course, the path of true fashion never rebranded, wholesale and franchise accounts products cost far more than its competition. runs straight and it’s a rare brand that doesn’t were closed. They overhauled operations, And it’s why people buy into Nike and the lose its way at some point. For Burberry, supply chains and IT systems, and gathered Burberry’s “Just Do It” ethos. They want to be a part that off-piste moment came thanks to a very all teams into a central London mega-hub Christopher Bailey of something greater than just laptops or where they could all pin down the vision and Cara Delevingne; Burberry’s ‘Shop the running shoes. They want their choices to and embrace it. Runaway’ website. express their personality. And they want to In short: Burberry took back control. feel something. “When clothes become just products, they “iT’s a richer lose their spirit,” Bailey continues, in his design was always some Thing lilting Yorkshire accent. “It’s important to experience make sure people don’t forget the emotion.” Bailey had an eye for – even as a youngster. Change the odd noun, and he could be an Than wha T some He tells a story about a shopping trip with old-school gourmand, confused by the notion people see as his parents, to replace their sofa. “My mum that, to some people, food might be nothing and dad chose one, and I just couldn’t cope. more than fuel. jusT a luxury I couldn’t understand why my mum, my “That’s a great analogy,” he says, laughing. dad, my sister were getting excited about all “I may borrow it if you don’t mind.” fashion brand. these things in this ugly furniture shop, and Either way, we can all agree Burberry’s I couldn’t relate to it at all. I couldn’t pretend. raison d’être is much bigger than to simply iT’s fun.” But the problem was, I couldn’t see anything I ensure we don’t turn up at work naked. liked. It was a real pivotal moment for me.” 150 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 GQ.COM.AU SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 151 GQ INC. | EVOLUTION Hence the idea of tying this new men’s He realised the way forward was to design fragrance, Brit Rhythm, into the theme. things himself. But how did he end up “We wanted it to have the adrenaline and choosing fashion, specifically? energy of music. We’ve taken the iconic Brit “I’m not sure I ever did,” he says. “My bottle shape, but given it a studded leather art teacher sent my work to art schools, and jacket. It’s got cedarwood and incense and for some reason I ended up in the fashion leathery tones. There’s a real sexiness to it.” department. At the time I was like, yeah cool Historically, this side of the business – I was in art school and that was all I cared was handled externally by French perfume about. You’re not thinking about pensions. company InterParfums, but that changed The fashion kids were the smokers and the recently, when the brand established its own drinkers – they were having the most fun. in-house business division called Burberry They loved music, that was big for me, too.” Beauty. Buying back the licence cost them After cutting his teeth at Donna Karan a cool $234m, which just goes to show how and Gucci, Bailey joined Burberry in 2001 important the cosmetics sector is to a fashion and spent his first few months trawling brand.

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