As I noted in my column at MacNewsWorld, I never would have imagined I would jump on the bandwagon for the CEO of a British luxury fashion company, but I just spent a gob of words gushing over her.
Apple CEO Tim Cook made the announcement earlier this week, so I started researching online, and as I near as I can tell, she seems to be almost universally appreciated. Of course, when you take Burberry and amp up its revenue and profits and turn it into a highly sought after brand — even while much of the world is going through some sort of economic distress, no less — Cook’s interest starts to become clear.
Ahrendts — at least as seen in YouTube videos — exudes energy. In fact, in a TEDx talk on human energy, she talks about breathing it in and spreading it around as if energy were readily available like the air we breathe. If you care about managing human energy, particularly your own energy, you might want to check out her TEDx talk.
Meanwhile, when I randomly picked the spring/summer 2013 Burberry fashion show video on YouTube to check out the brand, I had a holy shit moment: I’m not a big city boy, so high fashion isn’t something I cherish, but wow, this was fashion designed to evoke broad and deep emotion as its primary driver — not some “look” to make the wearer appear cool. Of course, Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey bears much of this responsibility, but the extension of his genius . . . Ahrendts has clearly taken it, moved it, and elevated it around the globe.
Can she do something similar for Apple through its Retail Stores and online channels?
I’d bet on her.
