Disheveled November 11 Elegance Emily Hoekstra A profile on Christopher Bailey
TABLE OF CONTENTS The history of…3 Industry article…6 Analysis…8
The man behind the clothes 18 years ago, amidst a fashion industry largely dominated by Italians, Americans, and the French, an unlikely young Brit, Christopher Bailey, emerged; a man who is now responsible for all aspects of Britain’s most definitive brand. Although it was Burberry that thrust Bailey into the limelight at age 30, the designer began his high-fashion career early. In a speech he gave at a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund event earlier this year, he said "I discovered fashion through something we have in the UK called jumble sales. Places where you bought old clothes, tried them on, looked silly - and that's where I bought my first Burberry trenchcoat, ironically." At a mere 23 he graduated with a Masters from the Royal College of Art, and almost immediately had a job working as a Womenswear designer under Donna Karan. He left in 1996, after two years with DK, to become the Senior Designer of Womenswear at Gucci in Milan. There, he worked under Tom Ford until 2001.
Over the course of his nine years in Milan, Bailey met and fell in love with Geert Cloet, the brand designer for Miu Miu. Bailey split his time between England, where he is from, and the home he had built with Cloet in Milan. In 2001 Bailey joined Burberry as a Creative Director. Three years later Cloet was diagnosed with brain cancer, and Bailey moved his partner to Yorkshire so that he could be close to Bailey’s family while Bailey was traveling. Cloet insisted that Bailey kept working. He lost Cloet a year after diagnosis; the pair had been together eight years. In 2009, four years after Cloet’s death, Bailey was promoted to Chief Creative Director, with authority over Burberry’s entire image. This included advertising, corporate art direction, and store design, as well as the design of all Burberry collections. The same year, Bailey began a relationship with actor, Simon Woods, and the two are said to have been engaged this August.
Burberry’s profits soared dramatically in the wake of Bailey’s direction. He performed an impressive facelift on the 150-year old brand. It is no longer a stuffy, old woman’s label, but a hip and trendy one for women and men of all ages. Bailey has fused contemporary life to Burberry classics, and has excited both the public and fashion critics in the process. The resulting product can be described as effortlessly cool, or as Mr. Bailey puts it, Disheveled Elegance. Bailey is passionate not only about fashion, but humanitarian efforts as well. Alongside Burberry CEO, Angela Ahrendts, he established The Burberry Foundation in England, an organization dedicated to “helping young people achieve their goals and potential through the power of their creativity”. Reflecting on his extraordinary journey, and how he came to be responsible for revitalizing one of the oldest fashion labels in existence, Bailey said "Dreaming is profitable. I wish someone had told me that when I was younger. We all need to be dreamers because it does make money, create jobs, and create excitement."
November 13, 2012 Burberry Goes Big in Chicago By Beth Wilson From:WWD Issue 11/15/2012 CHICAGO — Burberry more than doubled its presence on Michigan Avenue here this month, opening a fivestory flagship that is set to serve as a benchmark for other North American locations. Despite a soft opening, the 25,000-square-foot store with almost 17,000 square feet of retail space attracted lots of attention, with onlookers snapping photos of its painted glass, black chrome and LED-lit exterior. The location represents the result of 16 months of construction, with the London-based company building the store from the ground up, going from two floors to five. Burberry now has the largest stand-alone luxury brand presence on Michigan Avenue, according to John Chikow, president and chief executive officer of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association. “It’s great for the avenue; it’s caused so many other establishments to raise the bar,” said Chikow, noting that nearby Coach recently remodeled its Michigan Avenue store and Salvatore Ferragamo and Ermenegildo Zegna are expanding their locations.
The ground floor of the new Burberry store has a 7-by-9-foot “digital wall” displaying runway shows, ad campaigns and other globally synchronized content. The floor also contains an assortment of accessories, geared for gifting, and is the first North American location to have a Burberry Beauty cosmetic counter. In addition to the expanded assortment, the new Chicago location, which is the second-largest U.S. store after New York, has private second-floor fitting rooms with suede walls, mood lighting and an iPod dock for customers to choose their own music. Associates also act as concierges, valet parking cars, making dinner reservations and conducting personal shopping for special clients. A makeup artist is on hand for touch-ups. Upper floors feature the men’s Prorsum collection and a women’s shoe salon, as well as the children’s collection on the fourth floor. Later this month, the location will boast a black-and-white-themed Chicago capsule collection featuring a women’s gabardine trench with ostrich feather bottom, a men’s crocodile trench and women’s handbags in crocodile and alligator. The brand’s chief creative officer Christopher Bailey and ceo Angela Ahrendts are expected to mark the store’s opening with a private event Nov
29, when the store will showcase images of Chicagoans wearing the Burberry trench.
Analysis I think it is fantastic that a revolutionary flagship is located in our city. Chicago and Michigan Avenue will benefit greatly from being recognized as a business and fashion authority. The store is innovative, just like Bailey and his collections, and the new store has set a higher standard for other luxury brands in the area, which will overall improve Michigan Avenue and the surrounding Chicago. Aside from the infusion of high fashion, the construction and implementation of a larger building has created jobs in the area and an overall upturn for the local economy. This is exciting for both the Burberry brand and the people of Chicago.
As a Designer Christopher Bailey is well-liked within the fashion world perhaps most for how he managed to bring a dramatic freshness to Burberry, while keeping the brand’s original image alive. Burberry started with a classic trench coat. Bailey still focuses on outerwear today. Even his Spring lines are full of trenches, capes, and motorcycle jackets, in such a way that outerwear always seems to be center stage. Bailey also incorporates the color taupe into many of his collections, recognizable as the same shade of tan used in the iconic coats decades ago. Burberry is best known historically for its check pattern, but as that became dated and cheapened by overuse, Bailey has used it in smaller amounts. Bailey often leans towards a menswear aesthetic (for women) and favors clean lines and simplicity. Belts and tights are common additives. In most of his collections one can see his strong attention to structure and detail as opposed to a focus on prints. While his Fall lines are largely dark and neutral, his Spring collections often have bright jewel tones, and even neon shades. He consistently uses tweeds, leather, and metallics to supplement and add excitement to the historically tan and plaid brand. Most of all, Bailey keeps the label very “British” stylistically, something that is even reflected in the choice of music for his shows – he only uses British artists.
Burberry houses Menswear, Womenswear, Childrenswear, Frangrance, and Accessory lines. As far as Womenswear is concerned, the target Burberry demographic is that of professional women in her 30’s with a large amount of disposable income. This woman is both modern and elegant with a taste for classic style, but also a penchant for being unique in subtle ways. The company markets worldwide but mainly Europe, specifically in the UK, and The United States. Burberry has defined the wealthiest areas around the world and has made a point to locate stores within them. The reason Burberry has been able to survive all these years is due to the changes in its target market. In the past the label was more in a “wealthy old woman’s” interest. Since Christopher Bailey appeared on the scene, the brand began marketing to a customer who would better be described as that old woman’s fashionable granddaughter. Outside of its own boutiques, Burberry is carried by large department stores like Nordstrom, as well as upscale services such as Net-A-Porter online. The types of merchandise offered at these businesses vary greatly from each other. In department stores you will find perfumes and accessories, most selling for between $100 and $500, while Net-A-Porter, which is marketing to a much higher class, sells Burberry’s well-crafted garments like coats and skirts that often retail between $400 and $3500. Its customers are willing to spend larger amounts of money for things that the general public won’t necessarily recognize as Burberry when they see it on the street. Sizes offered generally range from XS (4) to XL (12).
Burberry faces competition from labels like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, but has an ever-evolving style very much its own which has helped sustain the brand. In his Fall 2011, Bailey embodied a 60’s era vibe modeled after Jean Shrimpton, In his new 2013 Spring collection for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs also jumped on the 60’s theme, seemingly inspired by Bailey’s mod throwback. Bailey continues to reference historical styles and has been a trailblazer in his time for his mix of modern, traditional, and trend. I personally love the way that Bailey presents his designs; they are never over the top but are often eyecatching and interesting. He is truly innovative in his use of structure and outerwear.