Burberry Turns to Kardashian Couturier for Post-Bailey Look

(Bloomberg) -- It's time to brace for the Instagram invasion at Burberry Group Plc.

The quintessentially British luxury brand hired Riccardo Tisci -- a designer known for flinging the doors of French couture house Givenchy open to pop royalty like Beyonce and TV's Kardashian clan. 

Burberry, which built a $3.8-billion-a-year business selling a muted output of cashmere scarves and trench coats, will now be helmed by an Italian designer whose intricate lace-and-sequin gowns often blur the line between red carpet and lingerie.

Tisci's appointment as chief creative officer ends one of the biggest mysteries in the fashion industry, where several high-profile designers are seeking new positions, and plugs a key gap at Burberry, where designer Christopher Bailey is preparing to leave after 17 years. The shares rose as much as 6 percent in London.

The move comes as Burberry pursues a high-fashion makeover under Chief Executive Officer Marco Gobbetti, who arrived last year from LVMH's Celine to replace Bailey in the CEO role. Gobbetti has moved to beef up the U.K. company's ranks with several senior hires plucked from the French group, luxury's biggest player. In addition to Tisci, Gobbetti has hired merchandising executive Judy Collinson and handbag designer Sabrina Bonesi from the Paris-based company's Christian Dior division.

“Mr. Tisci seems to be a good fit to Burberry's medium-term ambition to
position itself firmly in luxury, with more fashion content and stronger presence in accessories,” Rogerio Fujimori, an analyst at RBC Europe, wrote in a note to clients.

Madonna, Beyonce

Tisci previously worked with Gobbetti at Givenchy, where he revamped the couture house with a dark romanticism and dressed Madonna and Beyonce, who sang about feeling “reckless” in her gowns from the brand.

Tisci offset the intricate couture creations the house was known for with easy-to-wear merchandise including logo T-shirts that helped Givenchy expand from fewer than 10 stores to around 70 at the time of his departure. His collaborations with Nike were in the vanguard of mixing athletic wear with luxury fashion, while his friendship with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian helped forge a relationship between Givenchy owner LVMH and one of Instagram's most influential families.

“His designs have an elegance that is contemporary and his skill in blending streetwear with high fashion is highly relevant to today's luxury consumer,” Gobbetti said in a statement. “Riccardo's creative vision will reinforce the ambitions we have for Burberry and position the brand firmly in luxury.”

Tisci is an “unexpected choice” given that Burberry has always emphasized Britishness and tradition, Flavio Cereda, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote in a note to clients. “While the appointment of a creative head ends a period of uncertainty, it does little to reassure us at this time given the company's many challenges,” Cereda wrote.

Burberry shares have lost about one-fifth of their value since Gobbetti presented his turnaround plan last November. Burberry said in January that retail revenue in the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose slower than analysts estimated, adding that the CEO's plan to develop higher-priced fashions and “it” handbags wouldn't pay off until at least next year.

Philo, Jones

Speculation about the Burberry creative post has swirled around the industry since Bailey said in October that he'd leave. Tisci's hiring fulfills the need for a star designer to keep the spotlight on Burberry and bring in new customers, although his aesthetic is a more radical departure from the brand's current offer than other names floated as possible choices for the job, including former Celine designer Phoebe Philo and Louis Vuitton veteran Kim Jones.

Tisci will oversee all of Burberry's collections and will present his first designs in September, the company said.

--With assistance from Albertina Torsoli

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Williams in Paris at rwilliams323@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III

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