Luxury British brand Burberry not exclusive enough for its chief
Marco Gobbetti aims to revitalise 161-year-old British company, best known for its classic trench coats and trademark check by focusing on top-end items
Consumers prefer either luxury items or mass-market brands … the mid-market offering no longer has a place with these consumers
Gobbetti, who was previously at French house Celine, says fashion is polarising between the mass market – home to Spain’s Inditex and Sweden’s H&M – and top-end luxury brands.
“Consumers prefer either luxury items or mass-market brands, mixing them together to create a look,” he said on Thursday.
“The mid-market offering no longer has a place with these consumers.”
Burberry, one of the fashion industry’s most successful turnaround stories in the early 2000s, needs a new creative overhaul to help fire up growth again.
At Gucci, part of France’s Kering, a complete shift from the label’s sleek, sexy style to a rococo, colourful aesthetic under a new CEO-designer pairing over the past two years has helped the brand outperform all peers.
