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Burberry

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Burberry Group plc
Company typePublic company
LSE: BRBY
IndustryFashion
FoundedBasingstoke, United Kingdom (1856)
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
473
Key people
John Peace, (Chairman)
Angela Ahrendts, (CEO)
Christopher Bailey, (CCO)
ProductsClothing
Accessories
Perfumes
Revenue£1,279.9 million (2010)[1]
£171.1 million (2010)[1]
£82.2 million (2010)[1]
Number of employees
6,681 (2010)
Websiteburberry.com

Burberry Group plc (LSE: BRBY) is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry. The company has branded stores and franchises around the world, and also sells through concessions in third-party stores. HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Prince of Wales have granted the company Royal Warrants. The Chief Creative Officer is Christopher Bailey. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

According to Business Weekly, Burberry is the 98th most valuable brand in the world.[2]

History

Early years, 19th century

Burberry was founded in 1856 when 21-year-old Thomas Burberry, a former draper's apprentice, opened his own store in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England.[3] By 1870, the business had established itself by focusing on the development of outdoors attire.[3] In 1880, Burberry introduced in his brand the gabardine, a hardwearing, water-resistant yet breathable fabric, in which the yarn is waterproofed before weaving.[3] Burberry was the original name, but then the company soon switched to using the name Burberrys, after many customers from around the world began calling it Burberrys of London. This name is still visible on many older Burberry products. In 1891, Burberry opened a shop in the Haymarket, London, which still exists and until recently was the site of Burberry’s corporate headquarters. Now the headquarters are at Horseferry House just behind Houses of Parliament, Westminster (London).

20th century

In 1901, the Burberry Equestrian Knight Logo was developed containing the Latin word "Prorsum", meaning forwards, and registered as a trademark.[3] In 1911 they became the outfitters for Roald Amundsen,[3] the first man to reach the South Pole, and Ernest Shackleton, who led a 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. A Burberry gabardine jacket was worn by George Mallory on his ill-fated attempt on Mount Everest in 1924.

In 1914 Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its officer's coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare, resulting in the "trench coat".[3] After the war, the trench coat became popular with civilians. The iconic Burberry check was created in the 1920s and used as a lining in its trench coats.[3]

Burberry also specially designed aviation garments. A. E. Clouston and Mrs Betsy Kirby Green made the fastest flying time to Cape Town from London in 1937 and were sponsored by Burberry.

Recent history

Burberry was an independent company until 1955, when it was taken over by Great Universal Stores (GUS). Burberry Group plc was initially floated on the London Stock Exchange in July 2002.[4] GUS divested its remaining interest in Burberry in December 2005.[5]

In 2006 Rose Marie Bravo, who as Chief Executive had led Burberry to mass market success, retired.[6] She was replaced by current CEO Angela Ahrendts.

Burberry first began selling online in the US, followed by the UK in October 2006, and the rest of the EU in 2007.[7]

UK image and revitalisation

During the 1970s, the brand became popular with the British casual cult, leading to its being associated with members of football firms by the 1990s and chavs the following decade.[8][9] Such a shift in a brand's clientele exemplifies prole drift.

Burberry has attempted to rebrand itself with advertisements in GQ, Esquire, Vogue, Tatler and Harper's Bazaar, and is well-known for using British celebrities in its advertising, including models Kate Moss, Agyness Deyn, Jourdan Dunn and Lily Donaldson, singer George Craig, actress Emma Watson, who was named the face of Burberry's 2009 Fall/Winter campaign and the cover model for the 2010 Spring/Summer campaign,[10][11] and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who was unveiled as the face of Burberry's newest fragrance, Burberry Body, in July 2011.[12]

Brands

Burberry London Store on Bond Street.

Burberry operates under 4 brands:

  • Burberry Prorsum - The most expensive of the brands. This is their luxurious, high end, runway brand.
  • Burberry London - The dressed up, more formal brand, than Brit. Cuts are usually slim and the quality is a bit more wellworked.
  • Burberry Brit - The most known brand of them all. This is the brand that Burberry is built upon. Cuts vary from slim and formal to more loose and classic.
  • Burberry Sport - A sport inspired brand, pointed more towards the youth customer.

More recently, Burberry has added two regional brands:

  • Burberry Black Label, men (in Japan & Hong Kong, 2011 only)
  • Burberry Blue Label, ladies (in Japan & Hong Kong, 2011 only)

Perfumes

  • Burberry Brititsh
  • Burberry Body
  • Burberry Summer Eau De Toilette Spray
  • Burberry Brit Sheer Eau De Toilette
  • Burberry London
  • Burberry London Holiday Edition
  • Burberry The Beat
  • Burberry Sport
  • Burberry Sport Ice
  • Burberry (Classic)
  • Burberry Touch
  • Burberry Weekend

Checks

Burberry's trademarked check pattern
  • Haymarket: Classic check with Burberry Equestrian Knight
  • House: Classic check without Burberry Equestrian Knight
  • Nova: The newer and bigger check pattern. Nova check has a cream/tan background with vertical and horizontal black and pink/red stripes
  • Supernova: Bigger than Nova check. On a small leather good with Supernova check, usually have only a diagonal stripe but not a whole check
  • Exploded: Exploded check usually in metallic colours like silver


Stores

Burberry has 475 stores in 48 countries.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2009-2010". Smartpdf.blacksunplc.com. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  2. ^ http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/09/0917_global_brands/4.htm
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Burberry History". Burberryplc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  4. ^ Burberry IPO gets away amid market turmoil[dead link]
  5. ^ Finch, Julia (18 November 2005). "GUS shareholders to receive Burberry cheque". Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  6. ^ Bravo quits Burberry[dead link]
  7. ^ "Shop on line". Uk.burberry.com. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  8. ^ Day, Julia (1 November 2004). "Burberry doffs its cap to 'chavs'". Guardian. UK. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  9. ^ "'This is perfect for Burberry'". Money.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  10. ^ Zinderman, Carly (15 July 2009). "A Grown-up Emma Watson Models for Burberry". International Business Times. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  11. ^ "Emma Watson's Spring/ Summer 2010 Burberry Ads Revealed!". Stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  12. ^ Sample Burberry's new Body scent via Facebook The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 August 2011
  13. ^ Shop locator
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