Burberry
Burberry is a
U.K. based outfitter, manufacturing clothing and other
apparel, often in a distinctive check pattern, that has become one of its most common copied
trademarks. The company has branded stores and franchises around the world, and also sells through concessions in third party stores. It also runs a catalogue business and has a
fragrance line. Both
HM Queen Elizabeth and
HRH The Prince of Wales have granted the company
Royal Warrants.
Burberry clothing was founded in
1856 when 21-year-old Thomas Burberry, a former draper's apprentice, opened his own store in
Basingstoke,
Hampshire. By
1870 the business had become well established and focused on the development of outdoors attire. In
1880 Thomas Burberry invented
gabardine fabric, which is hardwearing, water-resistant, yet breathable, in which the yarn is waterproofed before weaving. A patent was taken out for this in
1888.
In
1891 Thomas Burberry opened an emporium in
the Haymarket,
London, which still stands today as the company's headquarters. Ten years later, the company was commissioned by the
War Office to design a new service uniform for
British officers. The company also became the outfitters for
Roald Amundsen's
1911 Antarctic expedition, which became the first to reach the
South Pole, and then to
Ernest Shackleton on his
1914 attempt to cross
Antarctica. When war broke out in Europe that year, the company modified its military designs to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare encountered by British troops, and the
trenchcoat was created. After the war trenchcoats became popular with civilians and, over the years, the design has been worn by
Humphrey Bogart in
Casablanca,
Peter Sellers in the
Pink Panther films, and
Audrey Hepburn in
Breakfast at Tiffany's. In
1955 Burberry was bought by
Great Universal Stores (GUS), owners of UK
High street retailers
Argos and
Homebase. After a protracted period of relative slow decline the company became labelled as an old fashioned raincoat manufacturer. Recognising the decline of the brand GUS recruited
RoseMary Bravo as Chief Exec in 2000. Bravo brought in rising designer
Christopher Bailey and other new key personnel and undertook a programme that turned around the fortunes of the company. Central to this turnaround were the designs produced by Bailey and his creative team. Basing his design concepts on the heritage of the company Bailey won wide acclaim from critics and from buyers. The brand was also expanded to include franchised items such as household items, watches, fragrence, sunglasses and golf items. As the UK business was revitalised work also began to reintegrate the businesses operating around the world under the Burberry banner but which were not owned or managed by the UK operation. Operations in Spain and Hong Kong were bought into the business. Following a period of massive sales and reputational growth GUS opted to float Burberry off as a separate company by passing its shares over to the shareholders of GUS itself. At this time (November 2005) RoseMary Bravo announced her intention to move to the position of Vice Chairman and it was announced that
Angela Ahrendts was to take over the CE role.Burberry is sometimes associated with anti-social behaviour.
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The Burberry check pattern. |
The red, white, black, and camel check, known as the 'Nova,' has come to be synonymous with Burberry. It was first used as a lining for the company's trenchcoat in
1924, although it was not widely used as an outer layer until the late 1960s. By then the Burberry Check was used on items including umbrellas, scarves and luggage, and was registered as a trademark.
After the entry of a new management team in
1997, the brand was revitalised. Once mainly the preserve of upper-
middle class older women, the patronage of celebrities in the UK and U.S., including
David and
Victoria Beckham,
Clay Aiken and
hip-hop artists, gave it wider appeal. During the 1980s the brand became popular with the British football casual cult, leading to it to being associated with "
chavs",
hooligans and members of
football firms in the 2000s. The Burberry check baseball cap, a favourite of chavs, was discontinued by the company in 2004 to distance itself from the maligned group. The company blamed weak Christmas 2005 sales in the UK on this image.
# "Burberry admits chav effect checked sales over Christmas",
The Daily Telegraph, January 13, 2005
In
Scary Movie 4, a woman compliments another woman's Burberry outfit, then pushes her into the beam of a
tripod and snatches the outfit for herself. Also, a recent report (or more of an amusing documentary) of a fellow who often complained about his Burberry shirt buttoning up on the 'wrong' side, when in fact, he was not aware that he was wearing a shirt tailored for women this whole time.
*
Burberry official website* (via Agenda)
