| Burberry menswear show January 2016 |
Burberry has announced it will sell both its mens and womens collections immediately after newly combined runway shows.
From September, Burberry will replace its current four show calendar with two shows.
The February show and the September show will feature both womenswear and menswear collections.
Seasonless, immediate, and personal, the new format and calendar have been designed with a global audience in mind.
The collections will be available to purchase in-store and online immediately following the shows in a move that significantly shortens the traditional gap between the runway show and retail availability.
Burberry Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Bailey said: “The changes we are making will allow us to build a closer connection between the experience that we create with our runway shows and the moment when people can physically explore the collections for themselves.
"Our shows have been evolving to close this gap for some time.
"From livestreams, to ordering straight from the runway to live social media campaigns, this is the latest step in a creative process that will continue to evolve.”
As part of the new calendar, all store windows and point of sale material will also display the new collections immediately following the shows.
And following the success of recent live digital campaigns on Snapchat and Instagram, Burberry’s main advertising campaigns will also appear in key digital and print media immediately after the collections have been presented on the runway.
And Burberry is not alone in making this move. Vogue reports designer, Tom Ford is also treading the same path.
The magazine wrote Ford has called off press previews of his Fall 2016 collection, which were scheduled in New York for next week, and will show and sell the offering, all in one go, in September.
“In a world that has become increasingly immediate, the current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to customers is an antiquated idea and one that no longer makes sense,” Ford said in a release.
“Our customers today want a collection that is immediately available. . . Showing the collection as it arrives in stores will remedy this, and allow the excitement that is created by a show or event to drive sales and satisfy our customers’ increasing desire to have their clothes as they are ready to wear them.”
Since the start of this year, the Burberry collections have also been evolving alongside the shows.
Evolving collections
Since the start of this year, the Burberry collections have also been evolving alongside the shows.
They have featured a seasonless mix of styles as the Brit, London and Prorsum lines merged into one new ‘Burberry’ label designed for a worldwide audience.
This approach will continue in the new runway collections with designs created to suit a global customer’s immediate needs.
As a result of these changes there will no longer be separate Burberry Menswear shows previously staged in January and June annually.
As a result of these changes there will no longer be separate Burberry Menswear shows previously staged in January and June annually.
Instead, Burberry is working with London Collections: Men to create new ways of playing a significant part in these key moments in the men’s fashion calendar.
