Burberry sales rise thanks to Beckham ads

Models wear the successful Spring/Summer range by Burberry. Picture: Contributed

An ADVERTISING campaign featuring ten-year-old Romeo Beckham helped luxury fashion group Burberry notch up a 13 per cent hike in sales after an “exceptional” response to its spring-summer collection.

The group enlisted the budding fashion model and son of Victoria and David Beckham as the star of its latest campaign, alongside models Cara Delevingne and Edie Campbell.

Burberry said spring-summer was a “standout season” for the group, with its high-end Prorsum fashion range and accessories such as the Blaze and Orchard bags proving a hit.

The first quarter like-for-like sales rise marks an impressive increase over the 7 per cent growth seen in the previous six months, with total retail sales in the three months to 30 June up 18 per cent at £339 million.

Burberry said: “In what remained an uneven trading environment, there was an exceptional consumer response to spring-summer 2013.”

It added that its ad campaign and catwalk shows generated “record reach and engagement”.

The group said store sales were led by Hong Kong and China, with double-digit growth in comparable trade across Asia Pacific and the Americas, while it saw “high single-digit” growth across Europe and the rest of its global operations. While customer footfall – the number of shoppers visiting its stores – was “soft”, Burberry said this was offset by strong growth online.