British fashion label Burberry has launched an online customisation service for its iconic trench coats, Burberry Bespoke.

Aping the likes of Nike ID, Burberry’s website allows fashion lovers to create their own versions of the brand’s best known coats, changing colour, and details like lining, collar, buttons, belt etc, and share them via Twitter, Facebook and email.

Shoppers can also arrange a call with a Burberry member of staff, or discuss their purchase live over Google’s Gchat IM service.

uk.burberry.com/store/bespoke

Contagious Insight /

Fashion has been slow to catch up with other industries in digital marketing, but Burberry has been amongst those leading the pack, introducing iPad live streaming of its shows, Tweetwalk (where Burberry’s twitter followers were sent exclusive twitpics of the looks before they hit the runway at London Fashion Week), and now Burberry Bespoke.

But while the mechanics of Burberry Bespoke are much like Nike ID - adjust clothing to your tastes - we wonder whether this is really what luxury and fashion brands are about, what it truly delivers to consumers against their brand image, and whether that might be damaging. The share functionliaty is a good way to spread the service across social networks, while the call and chat functions are a smart way to bring some of the personal, in-store experience online.

Personalisation has long been a way for luxury brands to assert the craft of their products and their uniqueness to each consumer. But it’s always been about exclusivity, top notch in-person customer service and a strong sense of the auteur’s vision that defines the mystique of fashion. With that in mind, does mass personalisation dilute the brand?

Burberry is treading a fine line here between growing its global base by giving consumers a measure of personalisation - which is a good thing in terms of product offering - and being so accessible and mass market in its e-commerce that it puts off the influential, high-spending fashionistas who it has studiously cultivated and who have made it very successful. The danger is that by reaching for the future of fashion e-commerce, Burberry is democratising their brand into dilution.

This story originally appeared on Contagious Feed. Contagious Feed is our bespoke trends, inspiration, insight and analysis service, providing daily innovative marketing intelligence across a comprehensive range of sectors to brands and agencies across the world.