Thomas Burberry opened his first small clothing shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 1856. He was 21 years old and had learned tailoring as an apprentice at a local draper’s shop. The town had a population of only about 4,500 people, and Burberry’s customers were mostly farmers, grocers, and other outdoor workers.
Burberry spent much of his own time outdoors, fishing, riding, and farming. He understood that his customers needed clothing that was durable and practical for hard work. He began selling everyday garments designed for that purpose, and the business grew steadily. Within two years, he employed more than a dozen workers and opened a factory on New Street.
At the time, the popular raincoat was the Macintosh, made from rubber. It kept water out but was heavy, inflexible, and trapped heat and sweat. Burberry wanted something better: a coat that was breathable, lightweight, and protective against wind and rain.
He found inspiration close to home. Local farmers wore linen smocks coated with a waxy substance. Burberry learned that the substance was lanolin, a grease secreted by sheep that protected their skin and wool from sun, wind, and rain. Using this idea, he developed a tightly woven fabric made from linen, wool, Egyptian cotton, and lanolin. The result was light, breathable, durable, and resistant to tearing and weather. He patented the fabric and called it gabardine.
Burberry created several weights of gabardine and sold the coats with great success. He marketed his garments as designed by sportsmen for sportsmen, and the brand expanded across Britain. The company grew to employ hundreds of workers, many of them young unmarried women.
Disaster struck when a shop assistant knocked over a gas lamp. Fire spread quickly through the flagship store in Basingstoke. Firefighters struggled with low water pressure, and the blaze spread to neighboring shops before it was brought under control. The damage cost about 30,000 pounds, but no one was seriously hurt. Burberry moved across the street while the store was rebuilt, and within two years he reopened in a larger, more modern building.
Gabardine’s practicality soon attracted military customers. British officers bought Burberry coats in large numbers, and the military commissioned Burberry to design uniforms. Thomas developed garments for both the Army and the Navy, including a khaki raincoat made of gabardine. He later patented the design as the Tielocken coat.
Burberry’s reputation grew beyond the military. Explorers took gabardine clothing on expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. Fridtjof Nansen was the first recorded explorer to carry Burberry gabardine to the Arctic Circle. Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton also used Burberry gear on their polar journeys.
When Britain entered World War One, Burberry was again called on by the military. The company designed raincoats for the Royal Air Force and Royal Marines. Earlier military greatcoats were made of heavy wool and soaked up mud in the trenches, forcing soldiers to cut away the fabric. The Macintosh kept water out but trapped sweat. Burberry improved the Tielocken coat to solve both problems.
The new coat included shoulder pieces to display an officer’s rank, a gun flap on the chest for extra protection, and a storm shield to direct water away. D-rings on the belt allowed soldiers to hang maps and gear. The coat came in khaki, a subdued color chosen for camouflage. Older military clothing had been bright so soldiers could be recognized on the battlefield, but troops learned that visibility made them easy targets.
More than half a million British troops wore the improved coat during World War One. It became known as the Burberry trench coat. Burberry and competitor Aquascutum both claimed to have invented the concept, though the idea was later traced back to earlier waterproof coats developed by Charles Macintosh and Thomas Hancock.
Back home, civilians embraced the trench coat as well. Men and women bought it as a way to show support for the soldiers, and many simply found it fashionable. King Edward VII liked the coat and wore it often. After his reign, King George V granted Burberry its first Royal Warrant as a tailor.
Hollywood also helped cement the trench coat’s place in popular culture. Humphrey Bogart wore one in Casablanca, and Audrey Hepburn wore one in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, and Bette Davis also wore Burberry coats on and off screen.
After Thomas Burberry passed away, his sons Thomas Newman and Arthur took over the business. When they retired, they sold the company to Great Universal Stores. Burberry continued to grow, receiving a second Royal Warrant as a weatherproofer and becoming the official outfitter for the British women’s Olympic team. By the company’s 100th anniversary, one in every five coats exported from Britain was a Burberry.
The iconic Burberry check pattern had been used for coat linings for about 40 years before it became a signature. The beige base with red, black, and white stripes was originally only visible on the inside of garments. That changed when a retail buyer in Paris prepared a window display. She turned up the hem of a coat to show the check and used the lining fabric to cover luggage and an umbrella. Customers responded enthusiastically, and Burberry began producing check umbrellas and cashmere scarves.
The scarf became an instant hit, especially among the British upper class, and eventually became a status symbol. Burberry exports to the United States and Japan grew so much that they made up two-thirds of the company’s sales. Still, the brand struggled to attract younger, fashionable women, who often associated Burberry with men’s trench coats.
To change that, Burberry launched a women’s line with casual wear priced 15 to 30 percent below its other collections. The company also licensed its name and check pattern to other manufacturers, allowing the trademarks to appear on handbags, belts, pillows, perfumes, and alcohol. Within a few years, sales in the women’s department grew by 30 percent, and company income doubled from 41 million to 70 million pounds.
In the late 1990s and 2000s, Burberry faced challenges in maintaining its image as a luxury brand. Heavy licensing had made the brand less exclusive. In the 2010s, the company made a comeback by limiting the use of its check pattern and embracing digital sales and social media. Burberry was among the first luxury brands to sell online worldwide and to use Facebook.
Today, Burberry is known for outerwear, leather goods, footwear, accessories, eyewear, fragrances, and cosmetics. Its heritage trench coats and check scarves remain timeless classics. The company is now one of the most valuable luxury brands in the world, generating billions in annual revenue. It all started with a 21-year-old draper’s apprentice who invented a fabric that would protect soldiers, explorers, and everyday people for generations.