A VIP trip to Burberry

This afternoon, the class scored a visit to Burberry's new global office for lunch, a tour, and quick Q&A with the CEO, Angela Ahrendts. Perry, the London vet and guru of our class, is Ahrendts' niece and set up a visit. I believe the class of Leadership London 2009 will be eternally indebted to Perry for this opportunity of a lifetime!

A few major players in the Burberry family:

Bailey and the face of the Fall/Winter 09 ad campaign, Emma Watson (AKA Hermione Granger from Harry Potter)

photo from UK Instyle

Christopher Bailey is the creative director of Burberry. He is responsible for the design of all Burberry lines, as well as the advertising, corporate art and image, and store design. Basically, he is a very key player in Burberry. We actually saw him while touring the showroom! I had seen his picture many times before, and was silently freaking out as we were detoured around where he was sitting to not disturb his interview. Beth and Nicki, the ladies of the showroom who showed us around, said he had asked about us and wished us good luck!

CEO Angela Ahrendts (and she looks even more glamourous in person!)

photo by Wharton Conference

Angela Ahrendts, or "Aunt Angie" to Perry, is originally from New Palestine, IN. She graduated from Ball State University and immediately moved to New York City to pursue a career in the fashion industry. With the help of her father's connections, she made her way into the scene and rose the ranks. Her jobs before Burberry CEO included top executive positions at Liz Clairborne, Henri Bendel, and Donna Karan. Her advice: network, network, network!

The Burberry check, the iconic plaid print

We were given a lunch in the cafeteria when we arrived. I was lucky enough to sit on an end with Beth and Nicki, Burberry employees and our guides, and talk to them about their experiences. Burberry moved into their current location, a seven story building in Westminster, at the beginning of the year. The ladies said that now all aspects of Burberry operations, design, and etc. are under one roof... as opposed to the five different buildings they previously had to run between.

Their area of expertise, the showroom, is an enormous display room of the pieces in each of the Burberry lines. The collection that is currently in is for Spring/Summer 2010. Nicki said they only allow a limited variety visitors, such as media outlets or department store buyers, to enter the showroom because the clothes are not yet displayed to the public.

Angie, Kelsey, Ethan, Charlotte, Mike, Ros, Nicki, Emily, Muriel, and Jenny in front of the equestrian knight logo

We listened to a presentation from HR employee Simon about the history and direction behind the brand. Then, a leadership development employee, Gill, spoke to us about the specifics of Burberry's leadership. She said Ahrendts is an extremely involved CEO, and Nicki said she sees "Angela and Christopher" all of the time around the building. Gill noted that Burberry is focused on furthering personal growth for each of their employees and promoting internally. She said they are transforming their brand and on a lookout for fresh eyes and new ideas.

The group at lunch in the cafeteria

I was incredibly excited to go on this visit, and it did not disappoint. The employees were extremely friendly, and we got to go behind the scenes and learn from the "top of the top" what makes Burberry successful. Ahrendts blew me away with her easy going conversation, glamour, and business savvy. I was absolutely impressed and completely inspired by this once small town Hoosier girl who had worked hard and became a success. I left the office starstruck and with a new feeling of determination...I would love to be a repeat of her success.