This 163-year-old fashion house exemplifies what it means to have a fashion legacy. Burberry has had many ups and downs during its existence. "From being linked with aristocracy and the royal family to being the number one choice for football hooligans" (Bar, 2019). Despite the issues and the difficulty of balancing exclusivity and ubiquity, Burberry preserved its distinctly British image and stayed strongly associated with the culture of the country. Every aspect of its identity worked together to emphasise heritage and aristocracy, from patterns to colour choices to the logo sewn into its iconic trench coat (Ahrendts, 2013).
Burberry was founded in 1856 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, by Thomas Burberry, who was only 21 years old at the time. When Burberry was first established, the idea was to create products on the principle that clothing should be designed to protect people from the British weather (i.e., rain and wind) (Burberry). The brand specialised in outdoor clothing, revolutionising the industry with "Gabardine", a ground-breaking fabric that transformed the comfort and weight of waterproof outerwear.
Thomas Burberry created gabardine, a breathable, weatherproof, and long-lasting rainwear fabric – it was invented in 1879 and was granted a patent nine years later in 1888. During World War One, Burberry developed a trench coat (a style of Lenin or woollen coat that is functional in terms of substance and tailoring, allowing it to be worn in many weather conditions) (Steed; Stevenson, 2012). When systematic physical training programmes and organised sports were introduced to army life in 1914, Burberry sought to take advantage of this and give hard-wearing outerwear to men in the trenches (Tynan, 2011).
In 2018, Burberry debuted a new monogram and logo. The new logo, designed by Peter Saville, signalled the start of a new era for the brand under Riccardo Tisci, the new creative director. The new Burberry logo was quite revolutionary since it dropped the original "Equestrian Knight" and replaced it with a bolder, more modern font. The brand name is written in uppercase letters on the new Burberry logo, with a smaller "LONDON ENGLAND" writing below it. Burberry appears to have followed in the footsteps of Chanel, Tom Ford, Fendi, Céline, and Louis Vuitton in adopting simplistic design approaches, which also compliments the change of their consumer tribe/target audience (Logo My Way, 2018).
Burberry has changed rapidly over the years, from shifting their target consumer to hiring a new chief executive. This change is what really brought Burberry into success in late 2018 and thanks to Riccardo Tisci, an Italian designer who previously worked for Givenchy. Prior to Tisci, Christopher Bailey was the creative chief officer for 17 years. There is a real contrast in both designers, as Bailey has more of a crisp and put together look, whereas Tisci has a more modern/street style approach and has listened to a younger and less focused audience and what they want. Bailey's Burberry was a big hit. Because of him, the company is now known as "Proper Fashion" (Mower, 2017), and the London Fashion Week event is always a sell-out. However, Bailey's Burberry was not very modern. Tisci, on the other hand, is one of the current arbiters of that elusive quality in fashion (Cochrane, 2019). Tisci saw that there was something else that Burberry consumers wanted, and he gave it to them. He managed to modernise the iconic Burberry trench coat so that it became more relevant to the latest generation, and yet he managed to keep some aspects of it the same as they were over 100 years ago.
References
Steed, J; Stevenson, F (2012). Sourcing ideas for textile design. 2nd ed. Switzerland: AVA Publishing SA.
Orian, Bar. (2019) The Psychology of Fashion. Available at: https://magazine.psykhefashion.com/industry-articles/fashion-psychology/burberry-rebranding [Accessed: 10/21]
Burberry, (2019) Burberry Company History. Available at: https://www.burberryplc.com/en/company/history.html [Accessed: 10/21]
Tynan, J. (2011) 'Military Dress and Men's Outdoor Leisurewear: Burberry's Trench coat in First World War Britain', Journal of Design History, 24(2), pp. 139-156.
Logo My Way (2018) Available at: https://blog.logomyway.com/burberry-logo/# [Accessed: 10/21]
Mower, S (2017) How Christopher Bailey Transformed Burberry and Redefined Brand Revivals in the 21st Century, Vogue, [Online] Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/burberry-christopher-bailey-legacy [Accessed: 11/21]
Ahrendts, A (2013), Burberry’s CEO on Turning an Aging British Icon into a Global Luxury Brand, Harvard Business Review, [Online] Available at:https://hbr.org/2013/01/burberrys-ceo-on-turning-an-aging-british-icon-into-a-global-luxury-brand [Accessed: 11/21]
Cochrane, L (2019) ‘In the trenches: Riccardo Tisci on his new era at Burberry’, The Guardian, [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/sep/14/interview-burberry-designer-riccardo-tisci [Accessed: 10/21]
BOF Team (2018) ‘Why Burberry Chose Riccardo Tisci – The former Givenchy creative director will succeed Christopher Bailey’, Business of Fashion, [Online] Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/workplace-talent/riccardo-tisci-is-the-new-creative-director-of-burberry [Accessed: 10/21]
[Image 1] Burberry (1901), Burberry Logo, 1000 Logos, [Online image] Available at: https://1000logos.net/burberry-logo/ [Accessed: 11/21]
[Image 2] Burberry (2018), Burberry Unveils a New Logo, The Cut, [Online image] Available at: https://www.thecut.com/2018/08/burberry-new-logo.html [Accessed: 11/21]
[Image 3] Jarvis, S (2019) In the trenches: Riccardo Tisci on his new era, The Guardian, [Online image] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/sep/14/interview-burberry-designer-riccardo-tisci [Accessed [11/21]
[Image 4] Hall, H (2018) A New Era for Burberry as Riccardo Tisci Takes the Reins, The Independent, [Online image] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/burberry-london-fashion-week-ricardo-tisci-fur-burning-clothes-a8542136.html [Accessed: 11/21]
[Image 5] Armstrong, L (2018) Meet Riccardo Tisci, the new man at Burberry: 'I was never really into the trench now', The Telegraph, [Online image] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/meet-riccardo-tisci-new-man-burberry-never-really-trench-now/ [Accessed: 11/21]
[Video 1] Burberry (2016) The Tale of Thomas Burberry [Online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/6D5IZtDCS5c [Accessed: 10/21]
[Cover image] Burberry, (2019) Burberry Company History. Available at: https://www.burberryplc.com/en/company/history.html [Accessed: 10/21]
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