What Can Burberry's CEO Do For Apple?

At first I was baffled as to why Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, who was already making some $25 million a year in the industry she was weaned in, would move to Apple to head its retail efforts. What could she possibly be thinking?

Initially everyone assumed she was going to become the tastemaker of the company since she turned a stodgy British company into a global powerhouse of fashion. But Apple is already the powerhouse of a certain kind of fashion, so what does it need her for?

It starts with hipsters, a subculture of millennials who have a distinctive lifestyle and fashion style (or a seeming lack of style to the uninitiated). Although hipsters can't generally afford Burberry products, they strive for the style.

Before I go any further, take a moment to acquaint yourself with hipster style by doing a Google image search of "hipster fashion style."

These dilettantes cannot afford their haughty tastes and recognize various deficits with mockery of it all. One must understand irony to understand hipster culture. They drink Pabst Blue Ribbon, for example, if they can't get their hands on a rare microbrew. These folks are a targeted and up-and-coming monster consumer market, especially for over-priced luxury and distinctly cool boutique products.

As a subculture they have been immune to the Madison Avenue sales pitch. Most hipsters—almost everyone under 30—are arrogantly proud of their discerning taste. They follow trends set by the few geniuses who can get into their heads. Once they are suckered into buying anything, they go out of control. It's a bonanza.

And that's the way Apple sees it too. Most hipsters strive to own an iPhone and are reluctant to buy anything else. But this fickle audience could quickly turn to alternative offerings if they become de rigueur.

Apple is nipping this threat by hiring Ahrendts, who has a natural ability to appeal to the growing, free-spending, iPhone-loving hipster audience. She will start with the stores, which have devolved and jumped the shark. And given the fact that Microsoft has committed to a similar design theory, it might be a good time to embarrass it with a new more distinctive direction.

If rumors are correct, there are also smartwatches and TV sets coming to Apple Stores. These new items need to be showcased in some way that feels comfortable to hipsters. I expect to see Apple Stores veer away from tech-chic décor and move toward a steampunk aesthetic or something more artsy modern. This will take some time to accomplish.

From there Ahrendts will work on the wearable computing initiative that may begin with the Apple iWatch. At this point, Apple becomes less and less of a computer company and totally becomes a lifestyle company, giving itself over to the dark side. It becomes the kind of cult it has always wanted to be. It will use the world of fashion to trick its devotees into falling in line where they can be sheared like sheep—or perhaps pickpocketed would be a more accurate word.

To stay that way and grow, the company needs Ahrendts. She knows how this all works. Now get ready to be fleeced.