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Burberry’s 1856–1999 Burberry 1999–present
Burberry began as a men’s outfitter on Westminster Street in Basingstoke, Hampshire, that was opened in 1856 by 21-year-old Thomas Burberry (1835–1926). While initially focusing on clothing for the local farming community, Burberry’s manufactured garments to appeal to the growing number of upper-middle-class men taking up country pursuits, including hunting and fishing. In 1879 Burberry’s developed the fabric gabardine, patenting it in 1888. This hard-wearing cloth was woven initially from worsted wool, or worsted wool mixed with cotton, and waterproofed before weaving using lanolin (a waxy substance from sheep that helps them to shed water from their wool). In 1891 Burberry’s opened a flagship store at 30 Haymarket, London. Subsequently, international stores opened in New York, Buenos Aires, Paris and Montevideo between 1900 and 1914. The association of Burberry’s with the military was established in 1902 when a new service uniform for officers designed by the company was approved by the War Office. In 1906, they began accepting orders for uniforms from the British Army and Royal Marines, and the Royal Flying Corps (later Royal Air Force) used Burberry’s as a clothing supplier during the First World War.

Burberry’s became the preferred outfitter of numerous explorers, including Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led an Antarctic crossing expedition in 1914. In 1910, Claude Grahame-White, the first Englishman to fly between London and Manchester in under twenty-four hours, wore Burberry. Mountaineer George Mallory donned Burberry’s during his ill-fated effort in 1924 to be the first man to summit Mount Everest. The company patented the forerunner of the trench coat – called a Tielocken coat – in 1912, which became popular among British Army officers during the First World War. In 1913 Burberry’s relocated to a new building at 18–21 Haymarket designed by architect Walter Cave, which contained the company’s flagship store and headquarters. In 1955 Burberry’s, the family-run business, was bought by Great Universal Stores (GUS), a mail-order company based in Manchester. In 1970 Burberry’s entered a licensing agreement with Mitsui to manufacture licensed products for the Japanese market with Sanyo Shokai. It renewed the deal in 2000 for another twenty years. They generated over US$1.15 billion in retail sales in Japan in 2000, the most of any non-Japanese clothing brand. At one point, 75 per cent of the brand’s sales came from Japanese consumers.

In 1997 Rose Marie Bravo was appointed as new CEO for Burberry’s. She oversaw a reversal of fortune for the company, repositioning Burberry’s as a high-end designer fashion brand. In 1998 designer Roberto Menichetti (b. 1966) was appointed creative director, and in 1999 the company name was changed from Burberry’s to Burberry and saw the launch of its Prorsum line. Menichetti was replaced in 2001 by Christopher Bailey (b. 1971), who was appointed creative director, becoming Chief Creative Officer in 2009 and CEO in 2014. At the British Fashion Awards in 1999, Burberry won the Classic Design award, and in 2001 they won the Contemporary Designer award, demonstrating how the brand had begun to reposition itself. In 2007 and 2008, Christopher Bailey for Burberry was voted Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, and again in 2013, when Burberry was also named Brand of the Year. They opened a new flagship store on London’s New Bond Street in 2000, bringing the brand’s global footprint to fifty-five locations in nine countries.

In July 2002 Burberry was listed on the London Stock Exchange following an initial public offering. In June 2003, the brand began showing their menswear collections during Milan Menswear Week and continued to do so until June 2013, when they relocated their menswear shows to London as part of London Collections: Men. GUS divested its stake in Burberry in 2005, distributing the remaining shares to its shareholders. Rose Marie Bravo retired in 2006 and was succeeded by Angela Ahrendts, who increased sales to more than £2 billion between 2006 and 2014. Burberry relocated its headquarters to Horseferry Road, Westminster, in 2007. They entered a deal in 2010 to acquire the stores and other assets operated by its franchisees in China, purchasing the assets and inventory of fifty stores. Burberry Prorsum, Burberry London and Burberry Brit were discontinued in 2016, and all products were rebranded as Burberry. The company announced in October 2017 that Christopher Bailey would depart the company in March 2018. Ricardo Tisci (b. 1974) was appointed Chief Creative Officer on 1 March 2018 and debuted his first collection in September 2018. In September 2022, Burberry announced that after five years as Chief Creative Officer, Riccardo Tisci would be replaced in October 2022 by Daniel Lee (b. 1986), the former creative director of Bottega Veneta.

Sources: Burberryplc.com; Financial Times; Guardian Unlimited; International Herald Tribune; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Retail Jeweller; The Daily Telegraph; The Sunday Times; The Times; WWD.