In 1856, a 21-year-old draper opened a small shop in a Hampshire market town of just 4,500 people. That town was Basingstoke. That draper was Thomas Burberry. Within six decades, his invention would clothe polar explorers and British officers in the trenches of the First World War. Today, Burberry is one of Britain's most recognised luxury brands, with 410 locations worldwide.
The Young Apprentice
Thomas Burberry was born on 27 August 1835 at Brockham Green, near Dorking in Surrey. He attended the village school before serving an apprenticeship with a local draper. By 1856, aged 21, he had ventured to Basingstoke to establish his own business. It was a modest beginning in a modest town, but Burberry brought with him an ambition that would transform the world of outdoor clothing.
From Shop to Factory
The business grew rapidly. By 1870, Burberry was already developing specialised outdoor attire. Within fifteen years of opening his shop, he employed over 70 people. By 1881, he had established a larger factory in Basingstoke with a workforce exceeding 200. What began as a one-man draper's shop had become a significant local employer.
The Fabric That Changed Everything
Burberry's breakthrough came in 1879 with the invention of gabardine. This was no ordinary textile. Made from Egyptian cotton and treated with lanolin before weaving, gabardine was tightly woven to create a fabric that was both waterproof and breathable. Existing rainwear at the time was heavy, uncomfortable, and retained moisture. Gabardine changed the equation entirely.
Burberry patented his invention in 1888. The fabric soon attracted attention far beyond Hampshire. By 1891, Burberry had opened a London store at 30 Haymarket, though Basingstoke remained the manufacturing heart of the operation.
Polar Explorers and the South Pole
Gabardine proved its worth in the most extreme conditions. In 1893, the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen used Burberry gabardine on his Arctic expedition. The fabric subsequently clothed Roald Amundsen on his successful journey to the South Pole in 1911, Ernest Shackleton on his 1914 Antarctic expedition, and George Mallory on his 1924 attempt to summit Everest.
A photograph from 1918 shows the Burberry factory in Basingstoke, then producing trench coats for military use. The town had become the production centre for garments worn on the world's most demanding frontiers.
The War Office Commission
The trench coat as we know it emerged from a direct request. In 1900, the British War Office approached Burberry to design a coat suitable for military officers. The result, submitted in 1901, featured a deep back yoke, epaulettes, buckled cuff straps, a button-down storm flap on one shoulder, storm pockets, and distinctive D-ring belt clasps for attaching military gear.
The design proved its worth during the First World War. British officers wore Burberry coats in the trenches, and the garment acquired its enduring name. The practical features developed for muddy, wet conditions became style signatures: the epaulettes, the storm flaps, the belted waist.
After the war, the trench coat transitioned to civilian life. It has since become a fashion staple, worn by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and countless others.
Basingstoke's Place in Fashion History
The Willis Museum, housed in the former Town Hall on Lower Church Street, preserves Basingstoke's history, including the story of Thomas Burberry and his fellow entrepreneur Alfred Milward, who opened his own shop in the town in 1857. The two traders who launched businesses within a year of each other both became household names, putting Basingstoke briefly at the centre of British retail innovation.
Burberry retired in 1917, moving first to Abbot's Court near Weymouth in Dorset, then to Hook, near Basingstoke, where he died on 4 April 1926. A devout Baptist, teetotaller, and campaigner against tobacco, he was buried in Hampshire, not far from where he had built his empire.
What Remains Today
Basingstoke has transformed since Burberry's day. The small market town is now a sizeable Hampshire borough. The Willis Museum offers visitors a window into this history, including the story of how a local draper changed the way the world dresses for rain.
The company Burberry founded became publicly quoted in 1920, was acquired by Great Universal Stores in 1955, and received a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II as a Weatherproofer. Today it is listed on the London Stock Exchange and employs over 9,000 people globally.
The trench coat, born from a Basingstoke workshop and refined for the trenches of France, remains one of fashion's most enduring pieces. Every time someone buckles a belt against the British weather, they are wearing a piece of Hampshire history.