We work a lot on paying attention to details in our company. Is what we’ve written accurate? Has the final copy been proofed? Do the message and design reflect the brand? Every detail matters in the business of communications—every detail reflects on us and our customer.

I got a good lesson in attention to digital and material details at a reception for members of the Executives’ Club of Chicago (Canright client) this past week. In this case, the material part also meant “fabric,” as the event was held at the new Burberry flagship store in Chicago.

At the store, tradition meets high-tech and social media. It was so exciting to see a brand that had previously been perceived as stuffy, now anything but. A fashion innovator. And in the space of just a few short years. Associates were friendly and more down-to-earth than I expected, proudly describing details of the clothing—down to the stitching—the store, and the way associates communicate with associates at the other stores around the globe.

I’ve been interested in textiles and their history for a long time and noticed the contemporary cut, color, and feel of the fabric is very different than the company’s traditional fashion look and feel but in keeping with its innovative past. Thomas Burberry was, after all, the inventor of gabardine fabric—and designer of the company’s signature product, the trench coat, first submitted as a design for an army officer’s raincoat to the United Kingdom War Office in 1901. In 1914, Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to adapt its officer’s coat to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare, resulting in the “trench coat”. Its adoption by the fashion world and the cinema is, as they say, history.

Walking into the Burberry store that night, I was struck with the variety of products—purses, shoes, perfumes, jackets, men’s suits, children’s clothes, and of course, the “trenches,” as they call them. Colors and fabrics that show how CEO Angela Ahrendts and her creative director, Christopher Bailey, have reinvented and reinvigorated the brand over the past several years.

The reinvention of the brand is apparent when you see the new Chicago store, on Michigan Avenue at Ontario, with its plaid-embossed chrome-plated exterior and ceiling-to-floor banners in the front windows. Inside, the exterior banners are reinforced by a ceiling-to-floor “digital content display” on the third floor.

“It’s that balance between the physical and virtual worlds that Burberry—and every other retailer—is working overtime to figure out. The pundits keep telling us we’ve entered a brave new Amazon world where on-line retailing is king and bricks-and-mortar a lingering anachronism. The unceasing crowds on Michigan Avenue would suggest otherwise,” wrote architecture critic and blogger Lynn Becker in “Tartan check-mate: Burberry’s Reinvigorates the Mag Mile,” a thoughtful piece on the new store’s design and its relationship to Chicago and Michigan Ave. retail architecture past and present.

The tech blog Mashable covered the store’s digital details, in a piece on the December 2012 grand opening, including a link to the “Art of the Trench” campaign video, which features Chicagoans wearing Burberry. “How we use technology was going to be our greatest differentiator,” Ahrendts told Crain’s Chicago Business.

Growth numbers from back in 2006 provided the digital impetus. As other luxury brands turned in 12-13% growth, Burberry lagged at 1-2%, as detailed in “Burberry’s Digital Transformation,” a Capgemini Consulting interview with Ahrendts. Judging by the most recent results, the effort has been a success, with Burberry generating strong third-quarter 2012 revenue increases of 9% in total revenue and 13% in retail revenue.

The Chicago store is Burberry’s second largest in North America, and will be the first to host Burberry Bespoke trench coats. Shoppers can collaborate with store associates to design their own trench coat via iPads, which many of the store’s sales associates carry.

The Burberry partnership and in-store event added excitement to an evening of informal business and social conversations among Executives’ Club members. As my partner and I walked out into the rainy Chicago night (really), I could only imagine the dialog between Burberry and The Executives’ Club as they did the same in their classic trenches. Yes, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. —Christina Canright

“What inspires you?”

I know, that’s not a typical opening question. It may seem cliché, but take a minute and really consider your answer. What gives you chills or moves you when you watch it? What motivates you when you read it? What simply puts you in a better mood after hearing it? What makes you cry? What makes you laugh?

Inspiration is a quality of experience that underlines what we value and care about. It goes hand in hand with our vision for our lives and what we choose to focus on. It goes way beyond cliché if it really inspires.

Sources of inspiration, whatever they may be for you, are important because they encourage us to take risks—to do things we may be afraid to do—and to keep going when the going gets tough. They help us find ideas when we feel we have none or when we need a kick in the seat of the pants.

As a creative firm, we’re always looking for fresh ways to be inspired. About a year ago, at one of our early morning staff meetings, I showed a scene from the Kenneth Branagh movie version of Shakespeare’s Henry V. It’s the famous soliloquy where Henry, about to embark on a battle where his forces are outnumbered five to one, encourages his “band of brothers.” “This story shall the good man teach his son,” he exhorts, while inspiring their confidence in themselves.

I felt that this kind of inspiration and how it put me in a positive frame of mind, orienting me toward a vision, would do the same for others in the office. By starting off this way, our meeting ended up being more engaging than previous meetings, and more fun. Ever since, we’ve held weekly inspiration meetings. We take turns presenting something we find inspiring—discussing how it inspires us, what it means to us personally. And we often find it relates to how we approach our work. It helps us learn, grow, and most importantly, connect with a shared vision.

Our inspiration meetings help get our creative juices flowing. We like to think our ideas come not solely from inspiration, but from creating that potential to be inspired.

You don’t have to be in the creative business to be inspired, share what inspires you, or benefit from others’ inspirations. When ideas flow freely, work becomes more innovative, interesting, and efficient.

Take that extra moment today to uncover what inspires you. What do you care about? What motivates you? In the end, you will be a more interesting person, a more effective worker, and a more connected team member.

As for King Henry V and his brother warriors, they went on to win the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 AD with only 25 English casualties.

Check out the film clip.

– Christina Canright