Burton of London improves his youth streak

The Omnium Group brand develops a new image by reworking its collections
Soon to be 120 years old, Burton of London has been given a makeover. The mixed brand from the Omnium Group (Devred, Bouchara) was born in Chesterfield in 1904. It started building up a new image last winter, based on the theme of journey and introspection. It’s in this context that the brand reworked the gent’s collections. “Our collections are a mix of chic and urban styles. They express the “green trend” coming to our cities and are also inspired by Italy. We find the same spirit in the women’s collections. Burton wants to show that it goes through history by breaking the codes. Our clothes reflect our clientele’s personality: our customers are mainly over 35 years old, they want to wear beautiful fabrics and tell a story through the clothes they’re wearing.” says Béatrice Mariton, the CRM and Digital Marketing Manager.
This summer, the brand is renewing its capsule collection. After calling upon Virginie Guarisco, a “boho chic universe” creator, she will produce a dozen pieces with Liberty. “These collaborations aim to rejuvenate the brand. Our web customers are already younger than our in-store clientele. Burton also calls on bloggers to ensure its presence on social media networks. It chose avant-garde venues like the Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty studio (designers of the Yves-Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech) to design its new spring-summer catalogue.
An e-booking service is already available on its e-commerce site, which will soon be redesigned. To attract students, a partnership has just been signed with student-beans.com. “We are talking to those students who need a suit for their first job”. Finally, a personalised costume service will be launched in a dozen of stores in January. Called “made for you”, it will offer three different cuts, with different choices of fabrics, buttons and markings. The suits will be delivered in store within three or four weeks.
Thanks to all these actions, the clientele of Burton of London, which is still predominantly male (55%), is in the process of rejuvenation. It is also getting feminised. “We are making good progress with the women’s collections, and our goal is that it will soon represent half of our sales,” concludes Béatrice Mariton.
Textile Journal, 9 January 2018