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CEO of Brit fashion bods Burberry lands Apple job for retail, online sales

Chief of super-pricey corporate tartan fashion stuff to flog super-pricey Apple fashion stuff

Apple has drafted in the CEO of high-end Brit faux tartan fashion label Burberry to head up its global retail and online sales biz – a newly created position.

It will be a different type of collection that US national Angela Ahrendts handles when she starts at Apple next spring - as senior veep and a member of Apple's executive team, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.

In a canned statement, Cook said: "She shares our values and our focus on innovation, and she places the same strong emphasis as we do on customer experience."

Ahrendts was similarly gushing about her new position, saying she was "profoundly honoured" to be landing at Apple and champing at the bit to "further enrich the consumer experience on and offline".

Apple said its latest senior recruit will have "oversight of strategic direction, expansion and operations" of the bricks and mortar and web shops.

All being well, she should last longer than Cook's first appointment, former Dixons boss John Browett who was brought in as retail chief but picked up a pink slip seven months later. He is now the head of Monsoon's Accessorize line.

Ahrendts did a decent job of reclaiming Burberry from its perceived popularity among youngish, lower-class Brits and football hooligans*, though a small stain remains on what was perceived as a high-end luxury fashion brand.

So she'll be well-placed to judge if the iPhone 5S fits with Apple's premium brand or is another sign that the company is losing touch with what made it a success – functional tech, minimalist in its design, which comes with a hefty price tag.

Burberry-checked iPhone anyone? Anyone? ®

* For our American readers, remember when Abercrombie and Fitch tried to distance itself from Jersey Shore regular The Situation? It was a similar sort of deal.

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