Burberry bags and shoes to become ‘highlight of collection’

Designer handbags, shoes and purses are to be the focus of Burberry’s future collections, it was revealed this week (November 18th), as the company reported lower pre-tax profits, mainly from apparel sales.

However, despite what might seem like doom and gloom for the fashion label, it has said that it has been "thrilled" with sales of large leather goods and non-apparel items such as handbags and shoes.

"One of the highlights is that handbags represent half of the non-apparel business. We can now say we have two solid backbone businesses - handbags and outerwear," chief executive of Burberry Angela Ahrendts told the Telegraph.

The company reported pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of September were down from £97 million in 2008 to £78 million. However, sales in their stores were actually up.

We at Secret Sales HQ will certainly not be complaining about the new focus - although we love the brand’s famous trenchcoats, we can’t wait to see what their new handbag and purse collections will bring.

Recently, Burberry launched a website featuring everyday people snapped in its iconic designer coats. Why not submit your own photo and see if it makes it onto The Art of the Trench site?