The International Herald Tribune Techno Luxury conference in Berlin started with a bang from Burberry when the newly named chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey, revealed just how intricate new technology is to his company. The designer, 38, has embraced social media platforms like Facebook (the brand has over 700,000 fans) as well as the use of virtual fittings between his different creative teams via Skype. On the green platform, he said that videoconferencing helped reduce company air travel by 17 percent. Add to that the company’s week-old site theartofthetrench.com, which encourages clients to upload photos of themselves wearing trench coats, and you get the message that Burberry sees investing in new online technology as a key to its future success. – from NYTimes