UAE art and design students descended upon Dubai Design District (d3) last night for an in-conversation event with Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative and CEO of Burberry and Dr Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art (RCA).
UAE art and design students descended upon Dubai Design District (d3) last night for a golden opportunity: an in-conversation event with Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative and CEO of British fashion and world-leading digital luxury brand Burberry and Dr Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art (RCA), London on “Creative Leadership and Innovation”.
Dr Paul Thompson opened the discussion describing Burberry as a “many layered” brand rooted in “radical traditionalism” – still using many of the artisanal processes since Thomas Burberry founded the company in 1856, yet embracing digital technology to innovate, disrupt and effectively turn the fashion industry on its head: the first fashion brand to stream its catwalk shows live in 2009 to selling collections online direct from catwalk in 2014 rather than the usual 6 month wait to reach consumers.
Christopher, a former student of the RCA described his time at the prestigious university as a revelation to suddenly be surrounded by like-minded others from across the design worlds and to learn to collaborate, something he sees as essential to success in the design industries.
On his rise to his twin creative and chief executive role at Burberry, he commented: “Everything in my life has happened organically. I’ve always wanted to learn…to keep an open mind…and keep curious”.
Christopher took questions from the young audience, giving punchy uplifting advice to would-be and emerging fashion designers. “The world is changing. Break the rules,” he told them, “there’s no one track”.