I think there’s this over-romanticized vision of what was Burberry under Christopher Bailey in terms of commercial reality.
Those great runway collections were the tip of the iceberg that managed to keep Burberry part of the fashion conversation but what was selling was Burberry Brit, the line that was largely distributed.
Burberry Brit was very much wardrobe inspired with Burberry basics and the line was shifting in terms of options of products regarding of the focus of the season on the mainline.
The problem was that (and it was the same for Dolce & Gabbana) at some point, the price point difference between Burberry Brit, Burberry Prorsum and Burberry London became more and more blurred.
And Tbh, I don’t think the mass realized that because when they were doing the campaigns with Emma Watson by Testino, it was basically the same setting as for all the lines. You could have the Burberry Prorsum, London, Brit and Sport shot by Testino and you could only distinguish the lines per products.
Maybe Burberry needs a stronger merchandising team or a merchandising team that speaks with the designer and maybe the styling of the should be more formulatic. Bailey was about the belted silhouette and strong focus on outerwear and seasonal prints. But it will always come down to the prices.
A Burberry basic peacoat shouldn’t cost above 1K. A trench coat and a parka shouldn’t cost more than 1600.
Literally the price point of the house should be between 300 and 5K. They are not doing exotic skin anymore so they can’t charge 10K for an alligator coat like the past.