Deeply entrenched: can Christopher Bailey keep Burberry watertight? As Christopher Bailey is set to succeed Angela Ahrendts as CEO, Luke Leitch charts the impact of his rise to supreme leader at Burberry on the fortunes of British fashion's defining house The sell-off started within moments of this morning's announcement of Angela Ahrendt's exit from Burberry for Apple. Soon the stock market value of Britain's only FTSE 100 fashion brand had dipped as dramatically as the new season's hemlines. At first sight you can see why the jittery shareholders who sold out - to the tune of £350 million at one point - decided to cash in. After all, in Ahrendt's seven-year tenure as CEO of Burberry, the once-moribund fashion company has seen its value rise from around £2 billion to approximately £7 billion. Burberry now has 212 stores around the world, hundreds more in-store concessions and one, further, greatest store of all - its pioneering etailing operation. Only Net-a-Porter.com - another forward-facing fashion firm defined by its commitment to new technology - can rival Burberry's status as Britain's greatest 21st century fashion success story. And there is no doubt that Ahrendts has played a key role. READ: Christopher Bailey to become Burberry CEO Yet I'd argue that the rise of Burberry could, conceivably, have happened without her. When Ahrendts arrived in 2006 the company's reinvention was already well-advanced under the executive leadership of its original architect, Rose Marie Bravo. It was Bravo, a New Yorker, who spotted the potential of Burberry when she arrived from Saks Fifth Avenue in 1997. And it was Bravo who regained control of Burberry's licenses and then began to re-imagine its staidly British output with an international retailer's eye. By 2001 profits were up to £40 million, and she told The Telegraph: "This is just the tip of the iceberg. It will take several more years to maximise Burberry's full potential. I have brushed up, cleaned up and polished something that was great to begin with. That same year Bravo recruited Christopher Bailey as creative director. It was this hire that provided the key catalyst for Burberry's explosive rise. Then 30, Bailey, had spent five years working for Gucci as a senior designer of womenswear under Tom Ford, just as the perma-stubbled American was transforming the old Italian house's fortunes. According to Bailey, the key to Ford's success - talent notwithstanding - was the prairie-like boundlessness of his ambition: "He had the mindset that you can create what you like. If you believe in something, you can make it happen. READ: Christopher Bailey, from carpenter's son to Burberry CEO Once at Burberry, Bailey set about importing that mindset. It was this musty, dusty company. I met Rose Marie Bravo and set of on this extraordinary journey... Lots of people can do a job; they are technical and professional and they get it. But feeling it is for me the key to everything. So we tried to create a warm, kind, generous culture. Contemporary fashion editors still recall how particularly impressive Bailey's first few years' worth of collections were. Meanwhile, Bailey set about reversing Bravo's Luddite suspicion of new technology. Speaking in New York last year, he recalled: "Technology became a natural part of the company just because we were bringing in a young team of people. We were all Skyping, Facebooking and Twitting at home - it would have been counter-intuitive not to have brought that into the office. The technology became part of our DNA more through the people we hired than through any big strategy. Bravo left in 2006 and Bailey had an idea of who might be best placed to replace her. He had worked with Angela Ahrendts during one of his very earliest gigs, as a junior designer at Donna Karan from 1994 to 1996. As Bailey recalled on a tour of Burberry's HQ in Westmisnter a few years ago: "We got together over a long, long lunch and talked about what we could do together at Burberry. We had both seen what we loved and what we didn't love in the companies that we had worked for previously. And this was our opportunity to do what we wanted, and to create the culture that we wanted for our company. We wanted it to be energetic, positive, driven and dynamic. IN PICTURES: 13 defining moments during Christopher Bailey and Angela Ahrendts Burberry reign That day Bailey was as proud as a new father as he swiped his staff-card through door after door to show me around the building - complete with its yoga suite, basement photographic studios and roof terrace. Ahrendts' office was directly next to his. Together, as sketched out in 2006 over that lunch, the pair have taken Burberry to a level unimaginable a decade ago - the company is now almost on a par with Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana as one of the largest free-standing brands in world fashion. Burberry will weather the departure of the excellent Ahrendts, who has been snaffled by Apple to try lend a little gloss to a brand that's rapidly being superseded by Samsung. And while Bailey might not have her direct experience of corporate leadership, his 'journey' into the CEO's chair will be carefully stewarded by Ahrendts and the Burberry board. Once in place, Christopher Bailey will be the most powerful figure in British fashion. Were it his departure being announced today, then Burberry really would be in trouble.