“I think it’s a smart way to do it,” says Robert Burke, of New York-based fashion consultancy Robert Burke Associates. “One can do a runway show that sends a message about the vision of the brand. But it’s about more than just one runway show; it’s about resetting the long-term image of the brand. Customers don’t like being confused, and that’s why the communication of these changes is extremely important.”
“The idea of a designer who comes in and throws everything out and starts from scratch was more of an aughts approach to business,” says Robert Burke, of New York-based fashion consultancy Robert Burke Associates.
Now, a less radical approach is what these businesses, which are much bigger than they were 10 years ago, are requiring,” Burke says. “Less disruption.” Given that Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli are both in their 70s, and helming a publicly traded company, the transition is an important consideration — one, says Burke, that “is a difficult subject in the fashion world, since brands are so dependent on the personality and identity of a designer”. Just look at 78-year-old Vivienne Westwood, 80-year-old Ralph Lauren, and 85-year-old Giorgio Armani — all three in charge, with no apparent heir. Hiring a co-director diffuses that prickly situation.
Robert Burke, founder of an eponymous luxury consultancy and the former fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman, said: “It is a strong strategic move positioning the house for the future. It will be well received by the Prada customer, and will also bring a new customer to the brand. It is a much more natural fit than the Calvin job. It could also start a trend, and perhaps an important one, since a number of brands need to plan for the future.”
“The idea of the BEATS is nothing sure than brilliant and puts Farfetch in a unique position,” says Robert Burke, founder and CEO of retail and fashion consultancy Robert Burke Associates. “The challenge today for all retailers is being able to have exclusive products that drive customer awareness and sales, but the vast majority of retailers have many of the same brands and products from these brands.”
Burke continues: “What Farfetch has done with their investments — from NGG to Browns, Opening Ceremony and Stadium Goods — is what many great retailers had done in the past, which is curating product and understanding their customer. We all know that frequent drops drive demand and interest.”
“It’s a rare example of an online retailer being in control of the distribution.”
"Not having the Asian retailers and buyers would be a big disadvantage," said Robert Burke, of Robert Burke Associates luxury consultants, adding that New York fashion week had been "leaner than usual.”
"Fashion weeks are still important, particularly in light of the global attention that brands receive through press and social media reviews," he said.
Retailers should be taking big risks investing in experiential retail, according to Robert Burke, a retail consultant. This means more wining and dining, health and fitness and even more out-of-the-box thinking.
“Department stores have to really use the next year to shake it up more than they have,” said Burke. “Department stores cannot look like department stores any longer — they need to be more personalised … and allocate space in unique ways.”
“Bigger is not better,” said Burke. “It’s the unique smaller experiences that feel more personal today, like what we’re seeing with Goop’s retail expansion as well as specialty stores like The Webster.”
“The natural migration from Barneys would most likely be Bergdorf’s,” especially for the tailored and more-classic luxury collections said Robert Burke, a luxury analyst who heads Robert Burke Associates. “Tom Kalenderian was one of the single most talented merchants with an amazing eye” because of the training he received from Fred Pressman. He built an “incredibly good tailored classic clothing business and also a fashion business. He knew all the vendors and every private label factory in Italy.”
Burke said that some Barneys customers may go to Saks since the store “has done a good job with designer lines so there’s a big opportunity there to attract that customer.” But Dover Street Market and The Webster are also strong options to pick up some of the more niche, contemporary labels.
“And then there are the online players,” Burke said, mentioning Matchesfashion and Mr Porter as other options for the Barneys men’s customer.
“Retail’s changing at a neck-breaking pace, particularly when it comes to the shopping experience and what draws customers in today,” said Robert Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of Robert Burke Associates. “We started talking about omni-channel before we understood it. But we’re going to be living it for the next 10 years in a seamless way and there will be no differentiation between the physical and online. Some brands will have to come to the reality that their retail stores will be showrooms.”
That means malls and shopping districts that are not “luxury ghettos” with the same high-end brands all clustered together, but destinations that Burke said offer consumers “the complete package,” including food, services, spas, luxury goods and more.
“The reality is that the luxury consumer goes to Apple, they go to Nike,” he said. “The consumer’s going to tell everyone how they’re going to shop — when, where — and anyone who’s going to succeed has to make it easy for the customer.”
“When I look at Saks Fifth’s ground floor renovation or [its] beauty hall or Selfridges’ accessories area or body studio or new designer showcase, they’re taking a lot more chances,” said retail advisor Robert Burke.
“The customer is really in charge, and the customer dictates how they’re going to buy," said retail adviser Robert Burke.
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Robert Burke, Robert Burke Associates chairman and chief executive officer, discusses the outlook for the luxury retail sector on 'Bloomberg Markets: The Close.'
“Gap has lost its identity,” said Robert Burke of Robert Burke Associates. “Right now, I am not sure what Gap stands for. If it’s unclear to people in the industry then it’s really unclear to customers. Gap was one time at the forefront of marketing, with its TV commercials and collaborations. That’s gone away. Gap needs to redefine who they are. Times have changed and the Gap hasn’t. It’s a combination of things that need to be done. There isn’t one magic category. Old Navy has prospered offering product at a price point while still having an image.”
“In terms of price, color and style, street wear had gotten pretty outrageous,” said Robert Burke, a luxury consultant in New York. “Returning to a classic style, if you like, represents a retrenchment, a kind of pulling back.”
Ideally, a new creative director won’t alienate the brand’s existing customer base, instead catering to them while also widening the brand’s reach in other demographic and geographic areas, says Robert Burke, whose eponymous brand consulting and advisory firm clients include Chloé, Van Cleef & Arpels and Marc Jacobs. When Dior hired Maria Grazia Chiuri as creative director in 2016, the first-ever woman appointed to the role, the move served as a strong branding opportunity for the French house, says Burke.
“With Tapestry and Capri Holdings, I think what they are attempting to do is very interesting,” Robert Burke, chairman and chief executive of the consultancy Robert Burke Associates told Luxury Society. “Both American groups are headed by very seasoned executives, so there’s no reason that America couldn’t have strong conglomerates, but I don’t think that they are competing yet, that doesn’t mean that they won’t.”
“It will affect everyone, even online; Net-a-Porter, Saks, Neiman Marcus,” said Robert Burke, founder of a luxury consultancy and former fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman. “It’s potential retail mayhem. The only other time we have seen a major liquidation outside of the regular sale season was after 9/11, when no one was shopping and people panicked. It was really a disaster, because the customer never really forgets. And trying to retrain them can take years.”
"It's been hit with a number of difficult times, but Barneys is not a lost cause," said Robert Burke, of the New York-based retail consultancy Robert Burke & Associates. The task at hand is "a reconfiguring of physical spaces and how big and how many do you need, but the chain could be certainly fixed or reformatted."
“Merchandising is almost as essential as the design,” said Burke. “There’s no compromise in saying that, and in fact, it’s a huge asset.”
Robert Burke, of retail consultancy Robert Burke & Associates, said there is a “recalibration” happening in the way that merchandisers rely on data, describing the importance of intuition in an emotional market such as fashion.
“We’re not buying and selling commodities,” he said.
And purchase data isn’t the only type of information retailers use. According to business consultant Robert Burke, whose New York firm specializes in fashion and retail, predictive algorithms can collect data on the way customers interact with the brand’s social media posts, or follow their web-browsing habits, which helps the retailer anticipate what will sell in the future and even which products to stock in which geographic location and in what quantities.
“Sometimes it is impossible to predict a viral move when you are not the one controlling the action,” Burke says. But data helps retailers exert a surprising amount of control, even when it comes to notoriously fickle viral trends. Some retailers are even using predictive artificial intelligence to forecast what will become trendy in the future, and how many they should produce.
“The trend in the fashion retail industry is that bigger is not better, whether that’s stores or developments,” said Robert Burke of retail consultancy Robert Burke & Associates. “People are looking for more intimate stores, they’re looking for environments that are more personalised.”
