Burberry: Luxury Still In Fashion

Burberry, known for their high-end raincoats continues to thrive even during a global economic slowdown. CEO Angela Ahrendts said the brand shows no signs of a slowdown. To put that into perspective, Burberry posted record profits in both 2010 and 2011 despite headwinds in Europe and the U.S. economy. And in the latest quarter, the firm posted a 34 percent jump in total revenue.

Asia Drives Growth

Burberry handbag

Source: burberry.com

So what's driving this growth?

Asia continues to be a hot market for Burberry. The firm has plans to increase its average retail selling space by an average of 12 to 13% going forward. This includes up to 25 new stores, with a bias towards openings in China, Latin America and the Middle East.

Europe Impact

When asked about Europe's debt impact on their business, CEO Angela Ahrendts told CNBC’s Bill Griffeth in an exclusive interview “that it (the crisis in Europe) hasn't impacted Burberry, but they are "staying very focused on the strategy." Instead, Ahrendts says "we are tripling our footprint in London getting ready for the Olympics there."

Burberry Gets High-Tech

But Burberry's business goes beyond the traditional stores. The company is embracing digital technology to connect global audiences with the brand. They launched their new fragrance, Body, through social media and held the first ever ‘Tweetwalk’ on Twitter for their London runway show a couple of weeks ago, premiering the collection to Twitter followers even before the front row, and becoming the second highest trending topic on Twitter globally that day as a result.

Ahrendts says social media has been a "key differentiator to some of our success over the last few years."

Donna Burton contributed to this article.

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