Burberry Trench Coats: sale up to −84% | Stylight
From Burberry to Blade Runner: The History of The Trench Coat
Did Burberry invent the trench coat? Maybe, maybe not, it’s still debated to this day—but there’s no doubt that this ubiquitous British brand is synonymous with the ultra-classic coat. After more than 100 years since Thomas Burberry submitted the design to the British Army, the trench coat has barely changed, but the role it played in society, culture and fashion has transformed immensely.
1856: A former draper’s assistant, young Thomas Burberry founded Burberry.
1879: With an aim to design a breathable raincoat (which at the time seemed like an oxymoron), Thomas Burberry invented gabardine, the defining fabric of the trench coat.
1901: Thomas Burberry submitted the raincoat design, complete with raglan sleeves and the still-standard ten button front, to the United Kingdom War Office. Shortly after it was adopted as optional outerwear for First Class Officers.
1914: It’s during WWI that the coat is dubbed a ‘trench coat’ because it was heavily favored by the soldiers fighting in the trenches all across Europe. Its popularity amongst soldiers quickly spread to civilians and soon both men and women wore the khaki trench coat, almost as if it were an act of patriotism.
1942: It may not have been the trench coat’s silver screen debut or even the first time Humphrey Bogart wore one in a movie, but when the rain-drenched Bogart said goodbye to Ingrid Bergman in ‘Casablanca’ wearing a one, it cemented the coat’s spot in fashion history.
1960s: Whether it was its military sensibility or its storied past, in the ‘60s the trench coat was claimed by mods and Marxist intellectuals. The latter which could be easily spotted wearing their signature black turtlenecks framed in stark contrast to the light tan collar of their coat.
1980s: This decade saw the trench coat donned by both Prince Charles and Rick Deckard, the infamous bounty hunter in the sci-fi classic Blade Runner, proving that, like denim, the trench coat transcended time, gender and class.
2006: Angela Ahrendts took over as CEO at Burberry and overhauled the brand’s identity to great success. Her strategy? To bring Burberry back to it’s roots by re-centering it around its greatest contribution to fashion: the trench coat.
Today, there are countless reinterpretations and imitations of Burberry’s tartan lined trench coat on the market, and yet, more than 100 years later, they’re still the undisputed champions of this classic style.
