Burberry

Burberry: history & brand profile

Brand profile · Luxury Brands Online editorial team

Burberry is a British luxury fashion house founded by Thomas Burberry in 1856. Headquartered in London, the company operates as an independent publicly listed entity under Burberry Group plc, spanning categories that include womenswear, menswear, and handbags, as well as accessories and fragrance.

The brand built its early reputation through outerwear, with Thomas Burberry's invention of gabardine — a hard-wearing, weatherproof fabric — proving central to that identity. Gabardine became the foundation for the trench coat, which remains Burberry's signature garment to this day.

Over the course of the twentieth century, Burberry's distinctive check pattern grew into one of the most recognised motifs in fashion. Together with the trench coat and gabardine fabric, the check forms the core of the brand's heritage and continues to inform its creative identity. Today Burberry operates as a global luxury house while drawing heavily on its tradition of British outerwear.

Categories: Women's Fashion · Men's Fashion · Handbags & Leather Goods.

The history above is the original luxurybrandsonline.com brand article, preserved. We have added current ownership and status, and flagged any dated claims, without changing the original wording.

Sources: Burberry — official site; Encyclopædia Britannica — fashion houses & designers. Editorial reference only; we are not affiliated with these brands. See our sources & fact-check policy.

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