Designer Directory: Burberry | Nouse

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Designer Directory: Burberry

By Sarah Wolfe, Deputy Fashion Editor (2010/11) Saturday 29 January 2011

Image: style.com

Founded: 1856 – Basingstoke, UK

Headquarters: London, UK

Key figures: Thomas Burberry (founder 1856), John Peace (Chairman from 2002-present), Rose Marie Bravo (Chief Executive Officer from 1997-2006, Vice Executive from 2006-present), Angela Ahrendts (Chief Executive Officer from 2006-present), Stacey Cartwright (Chief Financial Officer from 2004-present, Executive Vice President from 2008-present), Christopher Bailey (Creative Director 2001-2009, Chief Creative Director from 2008-present)

Labels: Burberry London, Burberry Brit, Burberry Prorsum, Burberry Sport, Thomas Burberry

Iconic style: Tartan check pattern, the trench coat

Fact: The Burberry Equestrian Knight logo was developed in 1901 containing the Latin word “Prorsum”, meaning ‘forwards’

Faces of campaigns: Emma Watson, George Craig (One Night Only), Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington- Whiteley, Nina Porter, Lily Donaldson, Agyness Deyn

“They’ve trodden the clever line between being very smart and Footballers’ Wives…there is a tradition, a heritage that they’ve kept, a lot of which is about posh advertising – posh as in Stella Tennant, rather than Posh.” – Alexandra Schulman, editor of British Vogue.

Quintessentially British, with a classic and traditional style, the high fashion luxury brand Burberry, founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry, a former drapers assistant, has come a long way from its humble roots as an outwear store in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Internationally recognised for its iconic trench coat, the brand reflects its beginnings as a developer of outdoor attire.

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Being the first to experiment with gabardine (a hard-wearing, water-resistant, breathable yarn, waterproofed before weaving) in 1880, Burberry was commissioned by The War Office in 1914 to adapt the Officers’ trench coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare. Post war, the trench coat became commercially popular. Its versatile and multi-purpose quality makes the Burberry trench as much accessible to the conservative businessman, the working mother, the high-flying twenty-something, to the (rich) university student. The Sartorialist’s Scott Shuman, collaborated with Burberry on Art of the trench, a living photographic documentary that reflects the brand’s dual use of the coat, and its popularity across the diverse civilian spectrum.

The brand defines itself as “Authentic British Heritage” with “founding principles of quality, function and modern classic style rooted in the integrity of its outwear”. This is a comment, some might say, intertwined with paradox, looking back to the 1990s, the era of Cool Britannia: when Burberry’s symbol of class was stained with “a reputation as the hooligan’s label of choice”, as put by ‘The Guardian’. An ironic symbol of wealth was attached to the brand as footballers, soap actors, pop actors popularised the iconic Burberry check, originally designed in the 1920s. As a result this influenced the swath of the brand- hungry public who could easily imitate the style as it spread onto the high street and market stalls.

It was the introduction of a pulse of fresh creative talent that brought the brand out of its decade of disarray. Rose Marie Bravo, who joined the brand as CEO in 1997, enlisted a pallet of creative energy of artistically bold minded individuals including Christopher Bailey as Creative Director who dreamed up the brand’s classic pieces to be more in tune with the modern fashion scene. Sourcing Mario Testino to shoot its advertising campaign and enrolling Kate Moss as the face of the brand further proved to revitalise Burberry’s lost prestige, and restored its image as a luxury fashion label.

Retiring as CEO of Burberry to be replaced by Angela Ahrendts (before his apppointment in 2006 to Vice Executive), Bravo explains the initiative behind Burberry’s transformation: “The bit that we tried to work on was the image of heritage and classic, but young and modern, hip and fashionable…it’s a thin line between being commercial and aesthetic, saleable yet refined. You are always walking that line between accessibility and inspiration.”

Reflecting on the success of the present day international demand for the brand, fifty percent of sales currently come from outside the UK. It’s hard to imagine that ten years ago Harrods and Selfridges didn’t even stock Burberry in their stores. Burberry has truly travelled along a bumpy road to get to where it stands today in the highly competitive fashion industry. Let’s hope the brand is as durable as its trench coat and continues to uphold the excellence of traditional British style for a long time to come.

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