The History of Burberry | Then and Now | Childrensalon

In 1856, ‘Burberry’s’, 21-year-old Thomas opened his first store in the English county of Hampshire, designing outerwear with a focus on shielding people from the British weather. He even created his own fabric to achieve this in the best way possible – Gabardine is fully breathable yet waterproof. It became, and it remains, the key fabric in Burberry’s outerwear collection. Gabardine was such a success that Thomas patented the fabric in 1888, nine years after inventing it.

Having grown a considerable following with record-breaking explorers setting off on their expeditions dressed in Burberry, the designer ran a public competition for a new logo design in 1901. The well-known equestrian knight was the winning entry and the Latin word ‘prorsum’ was added to it, meaning ‘forwards’.