Tales From The Trenches

If Burberry trench coats could talk, what rich, colourful stories they would tell.

- Jeffrey Yan

The trench coat is so taken for granted as a style staple today that people tend to forget just how revolutionary it was when it was created more than a hundred years ago. When Thomas Burberry invented gabardine – a lightweight fabric so tightly woven that it’s waterproof – in 1879, he set a new template for how outerwear can look and function.

The Burberry trench coat was quickly adopted by explorers, aviators and the military for its ability to withstand blizzards, storms and all sorts of harsh weather conditions all while affording its wearer mobility and lightness. Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew donned Burberry trench coats and slept in gabardine tents when they explored Antarctica in the early 1900s.