There was a time where fashion brands wanted nothing to do with lower social classes as it tainted their brand image. A perfect example of this would be, what some may call, the demise of Burberry in the early 2000s. The designer brand recognised amongst the best known fashion houses became “the uniform of a rather different social group: the so-called Chav”. The brand was picked up by fashion-conscious football hooligans and quickly gained a bad reputation. Soap TV stars like Daniella Westbrook were photographed wearing the brand head to toe, which turned it into a national joke in the UK.
Pubs and clubs then began to ban people from wearing the Burberry within the property. All of this meant that Burberry started to be less associated with high end luxury lovers and more associated with the violence, grubby and common working class. Chavs wearing Burberry in the UK had such a heavy knock-on effect to their sales, with being their weakest market in 2005.
The assumption was that Burberry were unhappy with the chav ‘takeover,’ with the financial director commenting that chavs wearing the brand “has not been helpful”. However, Christopher Bailey, the former creative chief officer stated that he is proud Burberry “had such a democratic appeal”. This could have been said so the brand did not look elitist and to slightly “woke wash” the brand.
References: Jackson, M. (2017). Danniella Westbrook slips into a Burberry AGAIN. 23rd March. Mail Online. [Online] [Accessed on 14th January] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4342770/Danniella-Westbrook-slips-Burberry-AGAIN.html