Why sullen starlets like Emma Watson will never sell me a £800 Burberry coat

So Burberry has posted another impressive set of figures. Following last year's 23 per cent rise in profits, the company reports that sales are up by 16 per cent in the three months to June - attributed to the magical effect of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson.

Magic formula? Emma Watson has been credited with helping to boost Burberry's profits

The moody pictures of the 20-year-old, taken by superstar snapper Mario Testino, are credited with revitalising the brand's image and leading to an upswing in sales.
Surely I can't be the only one raising a sceptical eyebrow. Emma is beautiful.

he is also clever - she's a student at an Ivy League university in the U.S. - but would she persuade me to buy a Burberry raincoat? The answer is 'No'.
In fact, every time I see the pictures of the actress looking at the camera with a vaguely sullen expression and just a hint of contempt, it makes me not want to buy Burberry.
The problem is partly one of credibility. Emma is not long out of her school uniform (albeit a Hogwarts one), while the woman who can afford to spend £800 on a Burberry mac is likely to be in her 40s.




But that gap seems to have widened, with big brands choosing 'faces' out of synch with their target audience.
The most unlikely link-up is that between Chanel and Lily Allen, who used to endorse a clothing line for New Look.

But that gap seems to have widened, with big brands choosing 'faces' out of synch with their target audience.
The most unlikely link-up is that between Chanel and Lily Allen, who used to endorse a clothing line for New Look.
Yes, I can see the point of hooking up with Lily to sell bottles of  £16 nail polish - Chanel's beige Particuliere flew off the shelves after a picture of Lily wearing the chocolate milkshake-coloured polish appeared in a magazine - but the in-your-face singer is not the most obvious choice for the Coco Cocoon quilted bags, which cost between £700 and £1,300.
'I love Lily's humour, cheekiness and talent,' said the Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld. 'Her little upturned nose and her perfect decolletage.' But I wonder how many Chanel customers are similarly impressed?
Lily's style is quirky, but I don't want to emulate it, and I can't imagine there are many women, other than her teenage fans, who do.
And what about the Chanel customer, who buys the signature tweed suits at £4,000-plus because they exude class and elegance?
It's also hard to understand why so many fashion labels are courting the ubiquitous Peaches Geldof.
I know she has been dropped from ultimo, but what customer in her right mind would want to be associated with any brand Peaches is pushing?

Unlikely link-up: Singer Lily Allen fronts the campaign for for Chanel's Coco Cocoon quilted bags, which cost between £700 and £1,300

There is a curious absence of models to whom women over 30 can relate. The vogue for vacuous or sullen looking teenagers makes the supermodels of the eighties seem almost worth their £10,000 a day.
At least Cindy (Crawford), Christy (Turlington) and co carried the clothes well, managing to look sexy and sophisticated, and as if they could hold a decent conversation.
It's easy for a skinny 20-something to carry off a trench coat. Surely the real test is how it looks on someone older.
No one has worn a trench with as much style as Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour - and she was no spring chicken when the iconic film was made.
Consumer research in the U.S. shows that of all the actresses nominated for Oscars this year, Sandra Bullock was the one most likely to generate sales for the label who dresses her.
The Vivienne Westwood dress she wore to the People's Choice Awards generated the most website clickthroughs to retail sites - that means people ordered the same dress online - of all red- carpet appearances this year.
The reason? Bullock is pretty, but looks approachable and friendly. She is also in her 40s, which might provide another clue.
She is someone to whom the women with the earning power to buy designer clothes can relate. It's not just the models but the ads that seem to have been oddly conceived. earlier this year, Bottega Veneta ran an ad of a woman lying on a bed in a derelict room.
What's the message here, I wonder? Blow all your money on Bottega and end up destitute in a room with paint peeling off the walls?
But back to Burberry. The real reason the label is doing so well, as fashion insiders well know, is down to the extraordinary talent of its designer Christopher Bailey, who each season manages to conjure up new ways to make fairly dull items such as the trench or tweed coat seem exciting.
This coming season, he has reworked the duffle and the peacoat into hugely desirable items.
Interestingly, Emma Watson won't be modelling them, though, according to a spokesperson, she remains 'part of the Burberry family and might be used again'.
'We don't target one age group or person. We are a cross-generational brand with a democratic approach to luxury.'
But that's not reflected in the advertising. The new campaign features 23-year-old Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely surrounded by a bunch of public schoolboys.
How disappointing. If Burberry had chosen models with broader appeal to showcase its new collection, how much higher, I wonder, would its profits soar?


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KAREN WHEELER