Burberry

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A woman in Milan wearing a Burberry trench coat.

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British luxury fashion house known for its gabardine trench coats and signature check motif. Founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry, the company initially specialized in weather-resistant clothing that became popular with explorers and military personnel. During the 20th century the trench coat and Burberry check evolved from functional design elements into enduring fashion symbols. The company subsequently expanded beyond outerwear to become one of Britain’s most recognizable luxury brands, offering clothing for men, women, and children as well as handbags, luggage, fragrances, cosmetics, and other accessories.

Thomas Burberry, a cloth merchant’s apprentice, established his own shop in 1856 in Basingstoke, England, then a rural town located southwest of London. There, he set out to create a breathable alternative to the waxed, oiled, or rubberized waterproof clothing that was then available. In 1879 he developed gabardine, a lightweight, tightly woven twill fabric usually made from worsted wool or cotton that was water-resistant yet breathable. Thomas Burberry patented the material in 1888.

In 1891 Thomas Burberry expanded his business by opening a shop in London. Two years later Norwegian polar explorer and zoologist Fritjof Nansen wore Burberry gabardine on his expedition to cross the Arctic Ocean, and the fabric became popular among other polar explorers and aviators who wore it on their missions. Exploration and protection from the elements quickly became central to Burberry’s identity.

In 1912 Thomas Burberry patented the Tielocken coat. Regarded as the precursor to the trench coat, it fastened with a strap and buckle as well as a button collar. During World War I the British government contracted the company to create a custom version of the Tielocken for the armed forces. The garment included epaulets for displaying insignia, D-rings for attaching military equipment, and a storm shield to shed rain. Only soldiers of officer rank and above were allowed to wear the Burberry trench coat and had to purchase it themselves out of pocket. The design thus became a marker of status.

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Actors Humphrey Bogart (wearing a Burberry trench coat) and Ingrid Bergman during the filming of Casablanca (1942).

Warner Bros., Inc.

Burberry continued to provide clothing and accessories to the British Armed Forces throughout World War II, but the trench also became fashionable outside of the military, worn by civilian men and women. Popular culture throughout the 20th century increased the trench’s desirability with characters played by Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and Michael Douglas donning Burberry trenches in Casablanca (1942), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), and Wall Street (1987), respectively.

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A woman and man wearing pieces from the Burberry 1974 spring collection, including trench coats and a bucket hat.

© Hulton-Deutsch Collection—Corbis Historical/Getty Images

Meanwhile, in the 1920s Burberry introduced its signature check, comprising interlocking black, white, and red lines on a tan ground, as a lining for its coats. The pattern became increasingly associated with the brand, especially after 1967, when, according to company lore, an employee at Burberry’s Paris store turned out the check linings of trench coats displayed for a presentation to Patrick Reilly, the British ambassador to France. Burberry subsequently began using the check more visibly on such products as umbrellas, cashmere scarves, and other accessories and clothing.

After Thomas Burberry’s death in 1926, the business passed to his sons, Thomas and Arthur, whose descendants continued to run the company until it was acquired by the British retail conglomerate Great Universal Stores (GUS) in 1955. Under its new ownership, Burberry expanded internationally and diversified beyond its traditional rainwear. By 1965 the company made one in five coats exported from Britain, while licensing became an important means of overseas expansion, particularly in Asia, where local partners manufactured and distributed a wide range of Burberry-branded products. Although these arrangements generated substantial revenue, they also weakened the company’s control over its products and image and left it heavily dependent on the Asian market. Toward the end of the 20th century, Burberry’s image had grown dated, and its luxury positioning had weakened.

In 1997 Rose Marie Bravo was recruited from Saks Fifth Avenue to become CEO and was soon credited with turning Burberry from a dormant heritage brand into a global luxury house. She tightened control over licensing and repositioned the company upmarket, appointing Roberto Menichetti as creative director. He was tasked with developing Burberry Prorsum, a luxury line that gave the company a runway presence. Menichetti updated traditional designs with new materials and silhouettes, mixing gabardine and the Burberry check with leather, stretch fabrics, and brighter colorways. His collections earned praise for recasting Burberry’s established signatures for a contemporary high-fashion audience. Bravo also enlisted art director Fabien Baron to reshape Burberry’s visual identity and hired fashion photographer Mario Testino to shoot ad campaigns. As Burberry’s fortunes improved, GUS began divesting the company, floating a minority stake on the London Stock Exchange in 2002 and completing its separation from Burberry in 2005.

Christopher Bailey succeeded Menichetti as design director in 2001, building on his predecessor’s modernization of Burberry but rooting the brand more firmly in its British heritage. He repeatedly reinterpreted elements of the trench coat, check, and other house signatures, combining them with influences from contemporary British street style, music, and culture. Over his 17-year tenure at Burberry, Bailey’s strategy made the trench coat less a fixed heritage product than a recurring starting point for seasonal reinterpretation.

With CEO Angela Ahrendts, who succeeded Bravo in 2006, Bailey helped make Burberry an early adopter of digital technology in luxury fashion, including live-streaming runway shows. After Ahrendts’s departure in 2014, Bailey assumed the role of CEO in addition to his job as chief creative officer. During his tenure, Bailey adopted a “see now, buy now” model, making collections available immediately after their runway debut.

Bailey departed Burberry in 2018 and was succeeded as chief creative officer by Riccardo Tisci, formerly the creative director at Givenchy (Marco Gobbetti took over Bailey’s CEO role in 2017). Tisci introduced a younger aesthetic by combining streetwear influences with traditional outerwear and tailoring. With graphic designer Peter Saville, he replaced the Equestrian Knight Design with the company name in minimalist, sans-serif lettering and introduced a monogram based on Thomas Burberry’s initials.

In 2021 Gobbetti departed, and the year after Tisci also left the company. Gobbetti was replaced by Jonathan Akeroyd and Tisci by Daniel Lee, formerly of Bottega Veneta. The latter returned attention to Burberry’s British identity, reworking the trench coat and check and reviving the Equestrian Knight Design. After declining sales Akeroyd was ousted in 2024, and Joshua Schulman was brought in. He launched the ultimately successful “Burberry Forward” turnaround strategy, refocusing the company on outerwear, scarves, established house codes, and what the company calls “timeless British luxury.”