Burberry impresses with appointment of Tisci as creative chief

Burberry has appointed former Givency man Riccardo Tisci as its new chief creative officer as longtime head honcho Christopher Bailey bows out at the end of the month.

Tisci, a graduate of Central Saint Martins in London who had been touted as a leading candidate having worked under Burberry boss Marco Gobetti before, will joint the company's London office on 12 March and present his first collection for the brand in September.

Gobetti led a turnaround at Givenchy as CEO between 2004 and 2008, hiring then-unknown Tisci, who held the creative director role there for 12 years in all, developing his expertise across womenswear, menswear, leather goods and accessories.

Gobetti said: "I am delighted that Riccardo is joining Burberry as chief creative officer. Riccardo is one of the most talented designers of our time.

"His designs have an elegance that is contemporary and his skill in blending streetwear with high fashion is highly relevant to today's luxury consumer. Riccardo's creative vision will reinforce the ambitions we have for Burberry and position the brand firmly in luxury."

Tisci added: "I am honoured and delighted to be joining Burberry as its new Chief Creative Officer and reuniting with Marco Gobbetti. I have an enormous respect for Burberry's British heritage and global appeal and I am excited about the potential of this exceptional brand."

Late last year Gobetti launched a new strategic plan for Burberry to move further upmarket in search of stronger profit margins. In January he reported "good progress" was being made in rolling out the plan throughout the business and said the financials remained "on track" to hit the full year profit target.

Burberry shares rose more than 5% to 1,621.5p on Thursday.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said the appointment was positive for Burberry shares for four key reasons, chiefly Tisci’s strong track record at Givenchy, with expertise across several categories being a good fit to Burberry and his time at Central St Martins in London being a "good fit to Burberry".

"Tisci and CEO Marco Gobbetti worked well together in the past so this increases the chances of a successful CEO-Creative Director partnership at Burberry, which is an essential ingredient of successful turnaround stories in the luxury sector."

As Tisci left Givenchy at the end of January 2017, he will be able to present his first collection already in September this year, "which could have a positive impact on sales already in 2H19, minimising the creative vacuum period following the last show from Christopher Bailey this month (one of our fears)".

RBC added that while Givenchy is a much smaller brand than Burberry and there is an inevitable transition phase, with past experience showing that changes in creative direction often bring some near-term disruption, "the most important thing is that Mr Tisci seems to be a good fit to Burberry’s medium-term ambition to position itself firmly in luxury, with more fashion content and stronger presence is accessories."