Burberry Radically Changes London Fashion Week Format

Christopher Bailey has announced plans to turn the traditional London Fashion Week show on its head, in a radical reformation of the way Burberry (opens in new tab) creates, presents and sells its catwalk collections.

From September 2016, the brand will stop showing its current four shows a year (two menswear, two womenswear), instead presenting two seasonless collections, mixing both men's and women's fashion. Instead of a spring/summer and autumn/winter collection, these will be referred to as the 'February' and 'September' shows, and will feature clothes that are available to buy in-store and online immediately following the presentation.

The game-changing move was made with a global audience in mind, aiming to shorten the time between the clothes debuting on the runway and landing in stores.

"The changes we are making will allow us to build a closer connection between the experience that we create with our runway shows and the moment when people can physically explore the collections for themselves," said the Burberry chief creative and chief executive officer Christopher Bailey. "Our shows have been evolving to close this gap for some time. From livestreams to ordering straight from the runway to live social media campaigns, this is the latest step in a creative process that will continue to evolve."

Immediately following the shows, all store windows and point-of-sale material will display the new collections, and the accompanying ad campaigns will also appear in key digital and print media.

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