Thomas Burberry (27 August 1835 – 4 April 1926) was an English fashion designer, and the founder of international chain

Burberry Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...

, one of Britain's largest branded-clothing businesses. He is also known as the inventor of

gabardine Gabardine Gabardine is a durable twill worsted wool. It is a tightly woven waterproof fabric and is used to make outerwear and various other garments, such as suit (clothing), suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, and windbreakers. Thomas Bur ...

Early life and career beginnings

Born at Brockham Green near

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

in Surrey, and educated at Brockham Green Village School, Thomas Burberry was apprenticed to a local

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

's shop before he opened his outfitting business in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

in 1856. During this time, Basingstoke was just a small town with a population of only 4,500 people. Initially, his designs were inspired by everyday clothing worn by commoners. However later, Burberry began to experiment with the development of materials and clothing that could be used for outdoor activities such as fishing and hunting. His main interest was developing waterproof clothing as well as a wider range of products. To do so, he partnered with British cotton manufacturers, and aimed to provide weatherproof textiles that would appeal to the growing middle-class and countryside.

Career

Burberry's involvement in the development of waterproof sportsman clothing was showing to be a great success as his business was expanding rapidly. According to the census of 1871, Burberry was employing over 70 people. By 1878, he founded a larger factory, which focused on wholesale manufacturing and 'ready to wear' clothing, which employed over 200 workers by 1881. Burberry recognized the need for promotion and publicity and ensured that Lord Kitchener and Lord Baden-Powell both wore his weatherproofs. By these means he expanded his business into one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's largest branded clothing businesses. In 1879, Burberry made the revolutionary discovery of

: a tough, tightly-woven and water-resistant fabric made from Egyptian cotton through an innovative process, which attracted positive reviews at the International Health Exhibition in

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

and was patented in 1888. This discovery led Burberry to become a world-known name. He was featured in the trade journal ''Men's Wear'' in June 1904, where the new fabric was described as being resistant to hot and cold winds, rains and thorns, and would make an ideal weatherproof coat. With the success of gabardine, Burberry was able to order his son, Arthur, to start placing orders from the elites at the

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a One-way traffic, one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing r ...

Hotel, which ultimately led to the opening of Burberry's flagship store at 30 Haymarket. By 1891, it became a wholesale store, with popular pieces such as the "Walking Burberry". Burberry’s gabardine fabric was not just used by elites, but by explorers. In 1893, Norwegian polar explorer and Nobel Peace Prize winner,

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

, became the first explorer to use gabardine on his trip to the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. British explorer

Sir Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarc ...

wore Burberry gabardine for a total of three expeditions in the early 20th century, including the famous ''Endurance'' Expedition.

Developing the trench coat

In 1900, Burberry was approached by the British

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, and was asked to design a coat to replace the military's current heavy coats. This request led Burberry to create the famous gabardine

trench coat A trench coat is a variety of coat made of Waterproof fabric, waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the Trench warfare, trenches, hence the nam ...

: "a lightweight cotton raincoat with a deep back yoke, epaulets, buckled cuff straps, a button-down storm flap on one shoulder, storm pockets, and D-ring belt clasps for the attachment of military gear". The coat became a staple product for World War I Soldiers, and eventually, became a staple product in regular civilian life as well. It became the main element of Burberry style, and continues to be present in media today. The trench coat was worn by

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...

, in ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

'', and

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

, in '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', contributing to its fame as a style icon seen throughout the world.

Retirement and death

Burberry retired to Abbot's Court near Weymouth,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, in 1917. He used his excess time to focus on religious and humanitarian beliefs. He focused on healthy living, which influenced him throughout his career by making clothes for soldiers and sportsman. He was a teetotaller and campaigned against

tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to hav ...

. He was also a devout

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

who liked to hold prayer meetings every morning. After witnessing the transition of his company from a small store to a public company,

, in 1920, Thomas Burberry peacefully died at his home at

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

near Basingstoke in 1926, aged 90.

Family

He married twice, first to Catherine Hannah Newman and second to Mary Marshall. He had two sons and four daughters by his first marriage.

Portrayal in film

On 1 November 2016, Burberry released ''The Tale of Thomas Burberry'', a short film inspired by Thomas Burberry’s life and achievements, reimagining key events from the brand’s history. Filmed in the style of a cinematic trailer by Academy Award-winning director Asif Kapadia and written by Academy Award-nominee Matt Charman, it starred actor

Domhnall Gleeson Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. The son of actor Brendan Gleeson, he studied media arts at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He began his career by directing and writing several short films, and garne ...

as Thomas Burberry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burberry, Thomas 1835 births 1926 deaths 19th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English businesspeople Burberry people English Baptists English businesspeople in fashion English company founders English fashion designers Menswear designers People from Dorking British retail company founders English tailors 19th-century Baptists