Will Daniel Lee be Riccardo Tisci’s successor? |Burberry|Luxury|Brand Executive_Sina Fashion_Sina.com

Reprinted from: WWD International Fashion Information

Original title: Depth | Will Daniel Lee be Riccardo Tisci’s successor?

With current chief creative director Riccardo Tisci’s contract due to expire in early 2023, Burberry has already approached a number of designers to find possible successors, including those from the Kering group at the end of last year, according to industry sources. Daniel Lee from Bottega Veneta.

A source said that Daniel Lee and Burberry are currently in advanced discussions, but no agreement has been signed. Burberry said on Wednesday that it would not comment on speculation, while Riccardo Tisci will still present his new collection at London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023.

Although neither the brand nor the designer has responded to this rumor, it is still possible for Riccardo Tisci to get a contract renewal, but judging from the reactions of netizens and industry insiders, people are actually looking forward to Burberry’s first digital trial in the 2010s. Pioneering stance of reform. After all, in addition to satisfying people’s expectations for a “better life”, the fashion industry also needs to satisfy people’s pursuit of “drama” and “freshness” from time to time. Every time the creative helm of a famous brand changes, it is the goal that is most concerned by the industry and outside.

In 2018, Riccardo Tisci switched from Givenchy to Burberry, succeeding Christopher Bailey as Burberry’s chief creative director. With the endorsement of the brilliant achievements of the Givenchy period, and the trust of Marco Gobbetti, the then CEO who joined him at the same time, Riccardo Tisci was placed in high hopes by the company, hoping that he could lead Burberry back to the top.

Before Riccardo Tisci, Gucci and Balenciaga had achieved exponential growth in performance and subversive upgrade of brand image by appointing Alessandro Michele and Demna respectively. Riccardo Tisci also assumed similar expectations of Kering Group for Alessandro Michele and Demna. .

However, Riccardo Tisci’s first report card was not outstanding. According to Burberry’s financial report data, in the 2019 fiscal year ended March 30, 2019, the group’s revenue was 2.72 billion pounds, a decrease of 1% from the previous fiscal year’s 2.73 billion pounds, and the group’s operating profit increased year-on-year. 7% to £437m. Although the performance of various data is very general, but Marco Gobbetti said at the time that this performance report shows that Riccardo Tisci’s brand transformation has achieved initial results, and the performance is in line with brand expectations.

On the other hand, British designer Daniel Lee, who has been “unknown” and was a member of the Celine design team during the Phoebe Philo period, was also appointed in 2018 and was appointed by the Kering Group as the new creative director of Bottega Veneta. In just a few months after taking over the brand, Daniel Lee used a set of visually striking design aesthetics to create a matrix of explosive styles including handbags and shoes for the brand, and launched a series of new brand logos, such as metal Chain, Triangle Logo, BV Green, Feather, Rubber Material and more. In the luxury world that relies more and more on attention marketing, Daniel Lee’s explosion strategy and visual strategy can obviously make Bottega Veneta stand out quickly, changing the old-fashioned image of the past and becoming the darling of social media and sought after by women in the new era.

One year after Daniel Lee joined, Bottega Veneta’s global sales have returned to growth. Its sales in 2019 increased by 2.2% year-on-year to 1.167 billion euros. The three major brands, and assume the responsibility of the new increment of the group after Gucci has completed rapid growth.

In contrast, Riccardo Tisci’s opening battle at Burberry was not satisfactory, but this does not mean that Riccardo Tisci “didn’t work hard”.

In terms of design, Riccardo Tisci continued his “haute couture + street sports” style during the Givenchy period. The result of this design style is the rapid increase in the market volume of Burberry menswear. Of course, this also implies a relative decline in the performance of women’s clothing.

The “patriarchal” situation is very bad for Burberry. In the luxury world, women have always been the core consumer group, and their repurchase rate and purchasing power have always been stronger than male consumers.

Secondly, the “luxury trend” pioneered by Riccardo Tisci in Givenchy is no longer new, and consumers have developed immunity. For example, the five-pointed star and Bambi are all design elements he used in Givenchy. Therefore, even if the “trend” can still attract young consumers, for the “latecomer” Burberry, there is no obvious advantage. Following the old road has made people see the bottleneck of Riccardo Tisci’s creation.

In terms of brand image construction, Riccardo Tisci also realized the importance of establishing a new brand logo in addition to the classic plaid. In the early days of his tenure, Riccardo Tisci updated the brand logo with a new sans serif font and launched a letter print called Thomas Burberry. Subsequently, the brand also launched a variety of marketing activities for this Monogram print in major cities around the world, trying to make the public build the memory of the brand’s new logo. Clearly, Riccardo Tisci and Burberry have placed an unusual strategic importance on this print and brand identity.

At the same time, the brand also adopted the “Drop” marketing model commonly used by street brands, launching a new “B Series” series on a monthly basis, and limited-time sales through social media platforms such as Instagram, WeChat and Line. In these collections, the “Burberry” brand name has become an important design element, creating a new memory point for the brand that can be engraved in the minds of the public through this simple and straightforward visual symbol. Therefore, the brand name Logo-printed T-shirts that sell for thousands of dollars in the “B Series” series are actually not far from the marketing methods of street brands that use simple elements to repeat to grab consumers’ attention.

However, the homogenized design makes this marketing method seem to be lacking in stamina, and it has not been able to achieve an overall performance boost and help the brand turn over completely.

Finally, in the handbag business, the brand has so far failed to have a popular handbag that dominates the market. For luxury brands, the handbag business is the top priority. If high-end ready-to-wear and haute couture determine the brand image, then bags determine the basic plan of the brand. Taking Hermes as an example, its handbags and leather products have always been its core business. With only one platinum bag, Hermes can build a moat that other brands cannot overcome.

Riccardo Tisci is not unaware of this. After he joined the company, he launched a series of new bags such as Olympia and Lola. Among them, the half-moon Olympia bag is also in line with the current trend of underarm bags. But unfortunately, Burberry has not yet produced a handbag like the Dior saddle bag, the Gucci Dionysian bag or the Prada Hobo bag.

But on the whole, Riccardo Tisci’s transformation strategy for Burberry is still successful. First of all, the strong printing marketing successfully achieved the brand’s grasp of the public’s attention, and used the repeated output of symbols to strengthen the brand’s presence in the consumer’s vision. Secondly, Riccardo Tisci gradually reduced the brand’s dependence on the core windbreaker items, making printed sweaters, T-shirts, sneakers and other products that are more likely to attract young consumers to help the brand achieve sales growth. Finally, measures such as price increases, regular price sales, and closure of underperforming stores have also brought Burberry one step closer to the top luxury brand, and a higher-end brand image has been established.

At the earnings conference in May this year, Julie Brown, the brand’s chief financial officer, said that the continuous emphasis on luxury attributes will be Burberry’s development direction, and pointed out that Burberry’s overall strategy is to increase the price range of handbags from 600 to 1000 pounds to 1000 to 2000 pounds. British pounds.

It should be pointed out that if Burberry wants to raise the threshold of brand entry and maintain high-end luxury attributes through price increases, it needs to do more on how to ignite consumer desires. Because once the price increase exceeds the psychological expectations of consumers, it will likely weaken consumers’ desire to buy. Therefore, this requires Riccardo Tisci to create a series of popular items for Burberry – when a product becomes a popular item, it will have more premium space, and the brand can also use it to carry out hunger marketing , thereby emphasizing the scarcity attribute of the brand. If Burberry wants to replicate the success of Bottega Veneta or Gucci and Balenciaga, it still desperately needs a series of hits to achieve this desire.

So this goes back to the original question, why do people think that Daniel Lee is the successor of Riccardo Tisci.

First of all, from the performance of Daniel Lee in Bottega Veneta, he has the ability to create popular items and establish a new brand logo. Especially in Burberry, which has a deep brand history and is known for its trench coat products, Daniel Lee’s ability in leather goods and accessories will complement Burberry’s shortcomings to the greatest extent.

In addition, he liberated Bottega Veneta’s classic leather weave element from its understated luxury attributes, amplifying this element to establish a more recognizable visual system for the brand. This ability is very attractive to Burberry, because it can help the brand to create more visual symbols that can form a new memory point of the brand in addition to plaid and today’s TB printing.

Secondly, from the perspective of personal behavior and design language, 36-year-old Daniel Lee has a more assertive personality and a strong design language. During his tenure at Bottega Veneta, his strategy of “retreat to advance” in the digital field has also created a pioneering image of “anti-digitalization” for him. These characteristics are undoubtedly in line with the tastes of today’s young people.

Finally, with the successful endorsement of Bottega Veneta, Daniel Lee is already a new generation of star creative director. With traffic and prestige, he suddenly left Kering Group in a dramatic way, and Daniel Lee’s “difficulty” can also be calmed down in Burberry, a powerful and influential platform.

If these commercial considerations aside, as the largest luxury brand in the UK, Burberry may only be revived in the hands of “proud” British people. Just like Christopher Bailey in those days, Daniel Lee, who is also British, also matches Burberry’s brand tonality very well from cultural background. The same is true for Phoebe Philo, who was previously rumored to be joining Burberry. Although this rumor later dissipated as Phoebe Philo would create a personal brand, it can be seen that people’s subconscious always seems to think that Burberry needs to be led by the British to get out of the trough.

Interestingly, Jonathan Akeroyd, who had served as the brand CEO of Versace and Alexander McQueen, took over from Marco Gobbetti and officially became the new Burberry CEO in April this year. And his predecessor Marco Gobbetti switched to Salvatore Ferragamo after leaving at the end of last year as general manager and CEO.

As a result, Burberry and Salvatore Ferragamo achieved a “change of CEOs” – the British Jonathan Akeroyd left the Italian brand Versace and returned to the British brand, and the Italian Marco Gobbetti left the British brand and returned to the Italian brand. Perhaps Riccardo Tisci from Italy, like Marco Gobbetti, might not be the best destination for them, but France and Italy are. Of course, this is just an experience gained from the cultural background and brand tonality, and it is not enough to be the basis for Daniel Lee to be suitable for Burberry.

The rumors of the luxury world are never groundless, especially in the context of the new CEO Jonathan Akeroyd has taken office, replacing Riccardo Tisci seems to be a reasonable thing. Some industry insiders pointed out that the brand executives have been dissatisfied with Riccardo Tisci for a long time, and any black swan event may lead to the rapid exit of Riccardo Tisci. There was news that he would resign in 2020. The brand still chooses to trust Riccardo Tisci and give him more time to prove himself.

In the increasingly competitive luxury world, “let the virtuous” has become the choice of most brand executives, and not all designers can get the patience of Bernard Arnault like Hedi Slimane. Whether or not Daniel Lee eventually becomes the new creative director, Burberry still has a long way to go in finding and reinventing itself. WWD

By Karlie

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