Burberry

Thomas Burberry opened his outfitter's shop in Basingstoke in 1856 at the age of twenty-one, beginning a British house that would clothe explorers, aviators and officers across a century of adventure.

In 1879 Burberry invented gabardine, a breathable, weatherproof twill that revolutionised outerwear and carried Roald Amundsen to the South Pole and Ernest Shackleton across the Antarctic.

The trench coat was born of the battlefields of the First World War, its epaulettes, storm flaps and D-rings designed for officers and later adopted as one of the most enduring garments in all of fashion.

The Burberry check, introduced in the 1920s as a trench lining, became an icon in its own right, while the Equestrian Knight emblem signalled the heritage and integrity at the brand's core.

Today Burberry stands as the definitive name in British luxury, fusing more than a century and a half of craftsmanship with a thoroughly modern sense of cool.