A decade ago, the iconic British fashion house Burberry was struggling to find its footing, with sales floundering in an increasingly competitive global luxury market. That trajectory shifted dramatically when a leadership tandem—former CEO Angela Ahrendts and creative chief Christopher Bailey—stepped in to execute a remarkable turnaround. Together, they transformed Burberry into one of the most admired and digitally savvy names in global fashion, expanding successfully into new markets like China and pioneering early integrations of technology on the runway.
Their success was so profound that last year, tech giant Apple recruited Ahrendts to bolster its already formidable retail and customer experience capabilities. In the wake of her departure, Burberry appointed Christopher Bailey as its new CEO—an exceptionally rare corporate track for someone with a purely creative background.
Recently, Bailey sat down for an in-depth conversation with journalist Scott Dadich to discuss the nuances of managing a design-driven business, the seamless merging of digital platforms with traditional retail, and how his upbringing continues to shape his philosophy on the future of fashion.
From Creative Director to Chief Executive Officer
Scott Dadich: When I went from creative director to overall boss, I found that I had to juggle much more complex decisions. How has it been for you?
Christopher Bailey: Remarkably smooth. Angela and I always worked in partnership, and our team is still here. I have always moved from one project to another, whether it be architecture, technology, or design. My new role just involves a broader audience—investors, analysts, and others. I took on this role because design and creativity are Burberry’s soul. That’s always been my approach.
Maintaining that creative soul while steering a massive multinational corporation requires an intentional evolution of design thinking. For Bailey, the transition has not meant abandoning his core aesthetic principles, but rather scaling them across entirely different mediums.
Scott Dadich: Has your design vision changed as you’ve settled into the new role?
Christopher Bailey: It’s been a natural evolution, because design thinking is always at the heart of what we do. You either have the world as your canvas or you have a 1- by 1-inch screen. The important thing, regardless of format, is creating emotional reactions. Music, in particular, lets you do that very quickly. It can be exciting or melancholy—or it can drive you kind of crazy.
Listening to the Customer on Digital Platforms
Long before social media algorithms dictated modern retail strategies, brands relied strictly on physical storefronts and traditional advertising campaigns. Under Bailey and Ahrendts, Burberry embraced the digital age early, viewing online platforms not just as e-commerce storefronts, but as interactive spaces for genuine dialogue with consumers.
Scott Dadich: But people aren’t just experiencing your branding. They’re reacting to it on social media.
Christopher Bailey: We started as a retail organization, having one-on-one conversations with customers. Digital platforms allow us to do that again, while also revealing trends that are useful for new products. For example, we often use our website Art of the Trench for design inspiration. It lets us see a trench coat translated zillions of different ways. Sometimes people say, “Wish you would do this kind of a coat.”
This direct line of communication helps bridge the gap between high fashion exclusivity and consumer desires, allowing Burberry to harvest grassroots styling ideas directly from its global community.
The Philosophy of Quick and Slow
Bailey’s worldview and unique design philosophy trace their roots back to his family background, blending traditional craftsmanship with a deep fascination for modern innovation.
Scott Dadich: How would you characterize your personal design philosophy?
Christopher Bailey: My father was a carpenter, and my grandfather, an electrician, was a gadget fanatic who bought every new thing. They both shaped my worldview: quick-slow, quick-slow. For example, the making of a trench coat is very slow, involving lots of handicraft. But I also love the speed of what we do online. I’m proud of that approach: Not everything should be quick; not everything should be slow.
This duality directly addresses one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary fashion: the tension between traditional craftsmanship and the instant gratification demanded by digital technology. While new technologies heavily favor speed, Bailey views the friction between fast digital trends and slow, deliberate manufacturing not as a hurdle, but as an opportunity for operational creativity.
Scott Dadich: Doesn’t new technology privilege the quick over the slow?
Christopher Bailey: I don’t see it as a problem. We’ve livestreamed a runway show, but it takes four to six months to get clothes into a store. So we developed Runway Made to Order, which will make you a piece in just six to eight weeks. That’s a nightmare to do, because it changes our entire supply chain. But it’s really important.
The Convergence of Fashion and Wearable Technology
As major technology companies increasingly push into the wearables market, the traditional boundaries separating consumer electronics from haute couture are beginning to blur. With products worn directly on the body rather than carried inside a bag, apparel becomes a direct statement of personal identity and character.
Scott Dadich: The tech giants are moving into wearables, which suggests a convergence between fashion and technology. Do you see that?
Christopher Bailey: Apple succeeds because of beautiful product design, but wearing a product rather than putting it in your bag means that it’s on show. It tells people about your character. Now, what happens if you put technology into fibers? What happens if you put chips into an accessory? We set up a group to puzzle through these issues—the What If Group.
Yet, this convergence introduces a fundamental paradox: a classic Burberry trench coat is crafted to last a lifetime, whereas consumer technology life cycles grow shorter with each passing year. Reconciling durable heritage with rapid technological obsolescence remains a central question for modern luxury design.
Scott Dadich: But a trench coat might last a lifetime. Technology life cycles shorten every day. How do you reconcile that?
Christopher Bailey: People will always want a physical experience. These create the stories we tell digitally, so there isn’t really a clear-cut division between those worlds. I like that.
