Burberry is following the fashion-industry trend and consolidating its businesses.
Ahead of the debut of the brand’s holiday campaign, Burberry announced it is melding its three labels — Prorsum, London and Brit — into a larger Burberry label. The company said the transition will happen by the end of 2015.
Other design companies have done the same in recent years to control costs and branding. It especially makes sense since for Burberry since there’s little distinguishing the labels other than price point.
Most notably, Marc Jacobs dissolved his lower-priced line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, earlier this year, instead adding varying price points to his regular line. And LVMH announced it was suspending the designer collection Donna Karan to focus on the contemporary DKNY line. Several years ago, Dolce & Gabbana closed its D&G line.
Whether the move will pay off in greater sales for Burberry is yet to be seen, though the consolidation does pave the way for expanded price points within the Burberry label to reach a wider range of shoppers.
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In a press release, CEO and Creative Director Christopher Bailey explained, “The behavior of the luxury customer is evolving. Their style is more fluid, and this is reflected in the way they shop,” he said. “By unifying our three lines under one label, we can offer a much more consistent experience of Burberry’s collections.”
In addition to the consolidation, the company announced it is investing in a new manufacturing facility in South Bank, Leeds, in England, where it will create the brand’s heritage trench coat. Construction on the roughly $77 million facility is expected to start this year and be completed in 2019.
