Burberry designer's digital world

Burberry Prorsum womenswear spring/summer 2014 collections.

In China, the shiny newness and British heritage both hold appeal. Bailey himself, who is just 41, is an affable, music-loving trendsettter with whom young people can readily identify. He is not one to ramble on about the brand's DNA for too long - he respects the Burberry roots passionately, but realizes his job is to make the clothing, and the brand, stand out in an increasingly crowded market place.

"Design is not just about the product but the way you communicate it and the environment you communicate it in," says Bailey, speaking before the not-long-ago announcement that he would become CEO, while retaining his current role as creative head.

"For me design is also making sure the architecture is specific to the product and that the brand and the packaging all fuses together. I love gadgets, and I love exploring technology and different ways of communication. I like the way it can make the world a smaller place. It is an amazing thing that we can be in Beijing, doing a huge event, and the whole world can watch it live as it is happening.

"We have so many different projects at Burberry. I feel that we are trying to make sure that whatever we are saying is across different platforms in a cohesive way.

"Social media is connecting the world at a speed we have never seen before."

Burberry is among the brands utilizing it fully. Under Bailey's stewardship, the company has had the biggest - and fastest - shake-up in its 158-year history, going from a solid, steady and generally unsurprising brand to one that is known for being cutting edge, particularly with its approach to new media.

On the face of it, this direction would seem to be very far removed from its roots. Bailey takes the opposite view - he thinks founder Thomas Burberry, a pioneer in his own time, would have grasped the chance to experiment and push forward.