There aren’t many items of clothing that have remained as unchanged over the last 100 years as the Burberry trench. Originally created as a hard-wearing and practical outerwear piece in the mid 19th century, the Burberry trench was developed by a young draper, Thomas Burberry, from a waterproof coat invented 30 years previously. However it was the brand’s “gabardine” fabric – a technique that sees individual strands of cotton and wool fibre waterproofed, rather than the finished textile – that became the standout innovation, and remains a core part of the coat's DNA to this day. From wartime officer’s coat and Golden Age Hollywood icon to Noughties It-girl garb, this wardrobe wonder has certainly seen it all.
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It has also been immortalised in popular culture: Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” was inspired by his own Burberry trench; in Kramer vs Kramer, Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep wore matching Burberry trenches; Catherine Deneuve also wore one while playing Geneviève Emery in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1967). Its IMBD page would rival Michael Caine’s. Fast forward to the 21st century, and the brand still boasts an impressive line-up of It-girls – there aren’t many items of clothing that have graced the backs of both Kate Moss and Kate Middleton.
By 1965, one in five coats exported from Britain was a Burberry, lined in the Burberry Check, and while 60 years later the outerwear market is certainly more saturated, it remains a sartorial failsafe, heralded for its versatility, timelessness and universal appeal. Whether you’re 18 or 80, it’s guaranteed to look the part. Each Burberry creative director has brought their own spin on the trench coat, whether it’s Christopher Bailey’s heart-printed calfskin from autumn/winter 2012, Ricardo Tisci’s 2020 floor-skimming, checked iteration, or the oversized iterations shot in Daniel Lee’s brand new 2023 campaign.
Each classic Burberry trench is composed of 90 individual, specially shaped components, and the collar alone is made of eight pieces of cloth. So despite its ever-changing guises, the essential components have remained remarkably unchanged, from the storm flap at the shoulder to the adjustable cuffs. Talk about standing the test of time.
It might have centenarian status, but according to Google, searches for “Burberry trench” are the highest they have been since 2004. Clearly the brand is doing something right. The beauty of the Burberry trench is that you can really bring your own personality to the look – it’s a total blank canvas. Throw it over a cotton sun dress and sandals or toughen it up with leather trousers and a white T-shirt, create interesting layers with double denim or juxtapose with a spangled party dress and heels. Name a more iconic wardrobe investment, we’ll wait.
Burberry’s trench coat muses
