Burberry’s Personalised Technology-Enhanced Garments Can Now Tell Customers the Stories of Their Creation

Burberry has introduced another tech innovation to the world of fashion. To showcase the Burberry Prorsum Autumn/Winter 2013 collection, the brand has reportedly developed its own technology (although, referred to as RFID technology at the official website) to enable “Smart Personalisation” service to let tech-savvy fashionistas order custom-made bags and outerwear with engraved nameplates on them right from the catwalk. The service is available for two weeks until March 3.

The company calls the service ‘smart’ due to the chips, embedded into the new fashion items, that enable customers to view bespoke multimedia content specific to different products. Already available online, each of the Made To Order items reveals a short film telling the story of its creation, when scanned with a smartphone.

On contact with a touch screen device each piece unlocks a unique video experience, charting its artisan production—including original sketches, runway edits, craftsmanship and personalisation,” explains the brand describing the process on YouTube.

The unique experience can be also unlocked at the new Burberry Regent Street store in London. There, the video about a select item from a new collection can be viewed on giant mirrors, which instantly turn into huge screens when the personalised piece is near them. The Made To Order products—with dominating animal prints and metal finishings—can be found here, and the whole collection was unveiled during the show, which was streamed live on Burberry’s site on February 18.

According to The Economist, the launch of the «Personalised Service» and digital experience in its flagship store in London is part of Burberry’s new digital strategy aimed to ‘lure back customers’, after the comapny’s share price slumped by 18% and profits for 2012-2013 were at the low end of expectations.