How Burberry Re-Invented Itself, and Gained Cred with a New Generation

Burberry photos from the Burberry Prorsum Autumn/Winter 2010 Menswear from The Fashionisto and Burberry

While Burberry may arguably not qualify as a “youth culture” brand in the traditional sense of youth as in one’s “age,” they do think young or as we put it, “with the eyes of new.” And for that reason, their Autumn/Winter 2010 campaign is worthy of noting for many reasons.

Burberry’s latest online campaign streaming their new collection Burberry Prorsum Autumn/Winter 2010 Menswear is another example of how designer Christopher Bailey and the brand has completely re-invented itself into something very relevant and noticeably new-school. On January 16, basically you could check out Burberry Prorsum show live from Milan courtesy of live.burberry.com and their collaboration with GQ.com. In addition, like any good streaming media of an event, you could lurk as a reader or contribute to an ongoing comments section as each model walked down the runway. (Burberry also has a noticeably large following on Facebook and has captured the attention of the Twitterati since this communication format launched.)


White, furry jackets with aviator/military motifs have captured the attention of fashionistas everywhere, including outwear sportswear designers.

From bringing on Kate Moss to Emma Watson and her brother, Burberry has also re-invented their cred across a broad range of age groups, and as Vogue once put it, recreated “The Art of the Trench,” thus producing a subculture unto itself.

Coming from a very traditional fashion house, many brands should take note of how Burberry has become a staple of cool. It’s heritage with a British twist, and now with their fall collection, absolutely inspirational. In addition, they just posted a 15.5% increase in sales for Q4.

From military-inspired coats to furry white sweaters and our favorites, the aviator-inspired jackets (which we find quite similar to the inspiration found in SkinGraft Designs’ new collection), Burberry has captured our attention aesthetically as well as from a new media perspective.

You can check out their show here.

Just in: Prada%uFFFDs also getting into the new media game with their updated visual communications plan for 2010. Here, created by artist Yang Fudong, is a beautiful black and white video showcasing their “First Spring” inspired from old-Shanghai.