Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer of Burberry. Photos provided to China Daily

Visionary Christopher Bailey spins his web to put the luxury fashion house ahead of the contemporary curve, writes Mark Graham.

It is difficult to think of any fashion brand, or designer, that has embraced the digital era with more enthusiasm than Burberry and its design head Christopher Bailey, helping to radically change consumer browsing and buying patterns.

Bailey has made the Internet a massive part of the way the British brand promotes and displays its wares, live-streaming wherever possible its major shows, including those in China, so audiences around the world can tune in. Its approach has proved popular in tech-savvy China, where there are now 71 stores, with Bailey becoming a regular visitor to the country, scheduled to fly in again this year, this time in his new role as the company's CEO.

Until Bailey joined the company a decade ago, the changes had been incremental rather than radical. The visionary designer began a massive shake-up, initially with the designs, which were updated for a more 21st century sensibility, and, later, with the way it presented and marketed its products, using digital platforms - and music - to put it ahead of the contemporary curve.

In fact the brand's flagship store, in the heart of London, is barely recognizable as a conventional clothes store: An outside wall is given over to the projection of music and catwalk images, while inside the thumping music, dazzling decor and array of screens make few obvious concessions to tradition.

The total of 100 screens and 500 speakers dotted around the elegant Regent Street building give it the feel of a contemporary nightclub but beneath the ultra-modern veneer there is significant acknowledgement of Burberry's rich history. The companies that installed the lighting and flooring at the 200-year-old building are the same experts who carry out much of the work at Britain's historical palaces and stately homes.

In China, the shiny newness and British heritage both hold appeal. Bailey himself, who is just 41, is an affable, music-loving trendsettter with whom young people can readily identify. He is not one to ramble on about the brand's DNA for too long - he respects the Burberry roots passionately, but realizes his job is to make the clothing, and the brand, stand out in an increasingly crowded market place.

"Design is not just about the product but the way you communicate it and the environment you communicate it in," says Bailey, speaking before the not-long-ago announcement that he would become CEO, while retaining his current role as creative head.

"For me design is also making sure the architecture is specific to the product and that the brand and the packaging all fuses together. I love gadgets, and I love exploring technology and different ways of communication. I like the way it can make the world a smaller place. It is an amazing thing that we can be in Beijing, doing a huge event, and the whole world can watch it live as it is happening.

"We have so many different projects at Burberry. I feel that we are trying to make sure that whatever we are saying is across different platforms in a cohesive way.

"Social media is connecting the world at a speed we have never seen before."

Burberry is among the brands utilizing it fully. Under Bailey's stewardship, the company has had the biggest - and fastest - shake-up in its 158-year history, going from a solid, steady and generally unsurprising brand to one that is known for being cutting edge, particularly with its approach to new media.

On the face of it, this direction would seem to be very far removed from its roots. Bailey takes the opposite view - he thinks founder Thomas Burberry, a pioneer in his own time, would have grasped the chance to experiment and push forward.

Burberry did, after all, make a major contribution to fashion by inventing that wardrobe staple, the raincoat - a garment made of water-resistant gabardine material. He later went to refine and strengthen the basic design so it could be used to offer warmth and waterproofing to front-line soldiers: The trench coat is named because it was, indeed, worn in the muddy trenches of World War I battlefields.

Over the years, it graduated to civilian wardrobes, too, and the elegant, all-purpose Burberry trenchcoat, with its distinctive checked lining and epaulettes, has become a ubiquitous outer garment offering style and practicality. A Burberry trench coat was worn by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer.

"Thomas Burberry was a real global visionary. He understood the importance of a global brand and understood the importance of functionality as well as aesthetics," says Bailey, a friendly and down-to-earth character who is regularly described as the nicest man in the fashion industry.

"He was always thinking about moving ahead and being inventive and staying curious. I think that is what we are doing. I think he would appreciate and expect that."

But far-sighted though he was, the founder could hardly have foreseen how vital China would become for the company in the early 21st century. There are now Burberry mega-stores in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai, each modeled along the lines of the flagship store in London which itself is a world away from the traditional boutique.

The various Burberry ranges now available include Burberry Prorsum, Burberry Brit, Burberry London, Burberry Children and a range of bags, accessories, perfumes, watches, spectacles and cosmetics.

The trenchcoat itself continues to be hugely popular. It's available in many more styles than when Bailey took over, and bright colors and trims have been added to the range, along with a bespoke service, allowing customers to design their own. The Art of the Trench website, inviting people from around the world to submit images of how they wear the classic coat, proved to be a hit, with some 20 million page views from users from about every country.

Integral to all Burberry Web, and real-life, activity is music in particular new British talent. The designer himself is a huge music fan and helps select bands that will feature in the various ad campaigns, Internet specials and live shows. A particular current favorite is Jake Bugg, a young singer-songwriter whose influences include Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and Bob Dylan.

For all his love of cutting-edge music and technology, Bailey is also renowned for a love of the simple life. He is a regular visitor back to his native Yorkshire, in the north of England, where he stays in touch with family, and friends he has known for more than three decades.

Those close ties and the unaffected nature that characterizes Yorkshire people have undoubtedly helped keep him grounded during a meteoric career rise. One of Bailey's first jobs was working for Donna Karan in New York City, followed by time with Gucci in Florence during the Gucci glory years, when American designer Tom Ford was at the helm.

The past decade at Burberry has been even more hectic, with Bailey spearheading the massive revival of the Burberry brand, success reflected in the opening of stores worldwide and the surge in profits.

Part of the reason for the success has been Bailey's ability to tap into the vast well of creativity that exists in melting-pot London. As Britain showed during the Olympic Games year in 2012, it is still a hugely influential force in the world of fashion, music, arts and sports.

"I feel incredibly blessed to be working for a brand that I admire and love. It has become my baby. I am able to touch all the different worlds that I love," Bailey says. "I find it always difficult to say what is work and what is not work. If I am listening to music, and I am in the middle of the countryside, I am not sure if that is classed as work."

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.

Burberry Prorsum womenswear spring/summer 2014 collections.

There are now Burberry mega-stores in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Pictured is a Burberry store inside the Shanghai K11 art mall at Huaihai Middle Road.

(China Daily 02/23/2014 page8)