Burberry Ltd.

29-53 Chatham Place, Hackney
London, E9 6LP
United Kingdom
Telephone: (44)208 985 3344
Fax: (44)208 985 2636
Web site: http://www.gusplc.co.uk/burberry.html

Division of Great Universal Stores plc
Founded: 1856
Employees: 2,500
Sales: £230 million ($366.1 million)(2000)
NAIC: 31523 Women’s and Girls’ Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing; 31522 Men’s and Boys’ Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing; 44814 Family Clothing Stores

Burberry Ltd. is a manufacturer and marketer of men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, as well as accessories and fragrances. The Burberry name is virtually synonymous with the tan gabardine raincoat pioneered by the company more than 145 years ago. Writing for WWD (Women’s Wear Daily) in 1989, Andrew Collier described the garment as “a mainstay in outerwear worldwide, that symbolizes all that is Britain: sturdy and unassuming, equally at home in fine hotels and muddy lanes.” In 2000, Burberry operated 58 company-owned stores, and its products were also found in department and specialty stores around the world. In 1999, the firm launched the Prorsum designer collection as part of its efforts to reinvent Burberry’s luxury brand status. An icon of classic clothing, Burberry has utilized licensing and brand extensions to appeal to a younger generation of fashion-conscious customers. The company is a subsidiary of the United Kingdom’s Great Universal Stores pic, the very closely held $9 billion credit reporting, mail-order, and retail apparel conglomerate.

19th-century Origins

Founder Thomas Burberry was born in 1835 and apprenticed in the drapery trade, establishing his own drapery business in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 1856. A sportsman, Burberry was dissatisfied with the then-popular rubberized mackintosh raincoat, which was heavy, restricting, and stifling, and thus unsuitable for extended outings. Inspired by country folk’s loose “smocks,” Burberry designed a tightly woven fabric made from water-repellent linen or cotton yarn. Although sturdy and tear-resistant, this “Burberry-proofed” cloth was lightweight and allowed air to circulate, making it considerably more comfortable than the heavy mackintosh. The tailor trade-marked his cloth “Gabardine,” a Shakespearean term that referred to shelter from inclement weather. Burberry developed five different weights of gabardine: “Airylight,” “Double-Weave,” “Karoo,” “Wait-a-bit,” and “Tropical.” He even patented “Burberry-proofed” linings made from silk and wool.

Burberry was a shrewd marketer, employing trademarking and advertising to great benefit. Illustrated advertisements touting the clothing “designed by sportsmen for sportsmen” drew customers to Burberry’s retail outlet, which was established in London’s Haymarket section in 1891. Having used a variety of labels to distinguish its garments from imitations, the company registered the “Equestrian Knight” trademark in 1909, an insignia used continuously through the mid-1990s. Also employed in the corporate logo, this image represents several Burberry ideals. The armor signifies the protection afforded by the outerwear, the “Chivalry of Knighthood” reflects the company’s own standards of integrity, and the Latin adverb “prorsum” (”forward”) referred to Burberry’s innovative fabrics and styles.

Although the gabardine name was used under exclusive trademark by Burberry until 1917, Britain’s King Edward, one of the first members of the royal family to don the gabardine coat, has been credited with popularizing the Burberry name by requesting the garment by name. Burberry garments have enjoyed a loyal following among royalty and celebrities around the world ever since. The company’s clientele has included Winston Churchill, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Humphrey Bogart, George Bernard Shaw, Al Jolson, Peter Falk, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, and Paul Newman. The company also boasts warrants (endorsements of quality) from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. Considered a “rite of passage” by some commoners, a Burberry coat was a prerequisite to a first job interview.

New Products for the New Century

By the turn of the century, Burberry offered an extensive line of outerwear for both men and women. The company designed hats, jackets, pants, and gaiters especially for hunting, fishing, golf, tennis, skiing, archery, and mountaineering. The garments’ time- and weather-tested reputation for durability helped make them the gear of choice for adventurers of the late 19th and early 20th century. Balloonists and early aviators wore specially made Burberry garments that let neither wind nor rain penetrate. Captain Roald Amundsen, Captain R.F. Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton wore Burberry clothing and took shelter in Burberry tents on their expeditions to the South Pole in the 1910s.

Burberry established its first foreign outlet in Paris in 1910 and soon had retail establishments in the United States and South America. It exported its first shipment of raincoats to Japan in 1915. It was World War I, however, that brought widespread acclamation and fame to Burberry. First worn by high-ranking generals during the turn of the century Boer War in South Africa, the Burberry coat soon was adopted as standard issue for all British officers. With the addition of epaulets and other military trappings, the garments came to be known as “Trench Coats,” so named for their ubiquity and durability through trench warfare. One Royal Flying Corps veteran wrote a testimonial noting, “During the War, I crashed in the (English)Channel when wearing a Burberry trench coat and had to discard it. It was returned to me a week later, having been in the sea for five days. I have worn it ever since and it is still going strong.” The company estimated that 500,000 Burberry’s were worn and, perhaps more important, brought home, by veterans.

Rainwear became so important to Burberry that the company soon whittled its lines down to little more than trench coats and tailored mens wear for much of the 20th century. The notoriously conservative manufacturer stuck primarily to its well-known raincoats until the 1960s, when a fluke led Burberry to capitalize on the garments’ trademark tan, black, red, and white plaid lining. It all started with a window display at the company’s Paris store. The shop’s manager spiced up her arrangement of trench coats by turning up the hem of one coat to show off its checked lining, then repeated the check on an array of umbrellas. The clamor for the umbrellas was so immediate and compelling that Burberry’s made and quickly sold hundreds. This experiment eventually led to the introduction of the cashmere scarf, also a perennial best-seller. By the 1990s, Burberry offered six different umbrella models and scarves in eight color schemes. This turning point in the company’s merchandising scheme notwithstanding, rainwear remained Burberry’s single largest line into the late 1970s and early 1980s, and menswear continued to dominate.

Emphasis on Exports and Women’s and Children’s Apparel in the 1980s and 1990s

Burberry’s export business increased dramatically during the 1980s, fueled primarily by Japanese and American craving for prestigious designer goods. By mid-decade, exports constituted two-thirds of the British company’s sales, with more than one-fourth of exports headed to Japan and another 15 percent sold in the United States. By 1996, Burberry had accumulated a record six Queen’s Awards for Export Achievement and ranked among Great Britain’s leading clothing exporters. Overseas sales continued to grow by double-digit percentages in the early 1990s.

Realizing that “A fine tradition is not in itself sufficient today,” Burberry sought to broaden its appeal to a younger, more fashion-conscious female clientele. Acknowledging that “The first thing people think of when they hear Burberry is a man’s trench coat,” U.S. Managing Director Barry Goldsmith asserted in a 1994 WWD article, “That’s the image we’re up against.” One result was the Thomas Burberry collection, first introduced in Great Britain in 1988 and extended to the United States two years later. The new merchandise was priced 15 percent to 30 percent less than Burberry’s designer lines, bringing a blouse down to $90 versus the normal $150 to $225, for example. Yet it was not just the price tags that set this “bridge line” apart from the brand’s more traditional garb. The collection emphasized more casual sportswear, as opposed to career wear. “Updated classics” included youthful plaid mini kilts, jumpers, and snug “jean fit” slacks. U.S. advertising executive David Lipman called the line and its model, Christy Turlington, “modernly relevant, yet classically beautiful.” At the upper end of the scale, Burberry launched a personal tailoring service for the ladies. The company’s women’s division grew 30 percent from 1994 to early 1996 and was expected not only to overtake menswear, but to constitute more than 70 percent of total annual sales by 1999.

Although it continued to manufacture 90 percent of its merchandise in British factories, Burberry also started licensing its name, plaid, and knight logo to other manufacturers. By the mid-1990s, the Burberry name added panache to handbags and belts, throw pillows and boxer shorts, cookies and crackers, and fragrances and liquor. Childrenswear, stuffed toys, watches, handbags, golf bags, and even a co-branded VISA credit card sported the Burberry check.

Burberry’s efforts at product and geographic diversification appeared to be paying off in the mid-1990s. Sales (including a small sister subsidiary, Scotch House) increased by more than one-third, from £200.9 million in fiscal 1994 (ended March 31) to £267.8 million in 1996. Net income before taxes grew twice as fast, from £41.1 million to £70 million, during the same period.

Company Perspectives:

Burberry is an international luxury brand. Its globally recognized name, trademark, and signature trenchcoat have been synonymous with quality and enduring style for over 150 years.

Focus on Strengthening the Burberry Brand in the Late 1990s

Despite diversification efforts, it became clear to company management that the Burberry brand did not have the spark it once claimed. In 1997, Rose Marie Bravo was elected CEO of Burberry. Her expertise in brand management fit in with company plans to strengthen the Burberry brand throughout the United States and Europe. Bravo began focusing on product and design development and hired creative director Roberto Menichetti to head up this initiative.

While the company focused on positioning itself among leaders in the fashion industry, it began facing problems caused by its over-dependence on Asian customers. Sales decreased by 7 percent in 1998 and profits tumbled in its retail and wholesale sectors due to the Asian economic crisis. As a major exporter, Burberry also was hurt by the strength of the pound. The company also began to slow down its shipments to the Asian grey market—a market in which its products were sold cheaply or re-imported back to Europe and sold at a discount—and shut down three production facilities in the United Kingdom. Whereas this decision hurt the firm’s profits in 1998, management felt it would, in the long run, protect the Burberry image.

In 1999, the company profits continued to falter. Sales decreased by 19 percent as the firm battled its Asian-related problems. Amidst its financial struggles, however, the company continued to focus on brand development and aggressive marketing. Under the leadership of Bravo, Burberry was once again re-emerging as an international luxury brand. The company launched its Prorsum collections in 1999, a new designer line that was part of Bravo’s strategy. According to a June 1999 Daily News Record article, the launch was, “The latest step in the Bravo-directed makeover of the brand. Over the last 18 months, she’s trimmed its distribution, cut the number of licensees, and ramped up marketing and advertising. The goal is to turn the Burberry name into a brand as hip as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or Prada.”

Success in the New Millennium

As Burberry entered the new millennium, its financial results improved dramatically. The Asian market recovered, its European and American markets grew, and its new brand strategy began to pay off. Trading profits increased 103 percent over the previous year and sales rose by 11 percent. The company also closed nonprofitable stores and opened new stores in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Tokyo. Burberry also opened a new three-floor flagship store in London that was 16,000 square feet in size and featured new product lines including lingerie and swimwear. A new licensing agreement was signed with Mitsui in Japan, securing a greater share of profits from that region, and the firm acquired its Spain-based licensee—Spain was the firm’s second largest market after Japan.

Burberry’s parent announced in late 2000 that it was planning an initial public offering (IPO) of the company’s stock. Great Universal Stores did not consider the company one of its core businesses, and in light of Burberry’s recent successes, it considered an IPO much more lucrative than selling the firm. In 2001, Burberry management continued its aggressive brand strategy and focus on its potential in the United States and in European markets such as France and Italy. Burberry’s repositioning as a leading luxury brand left its management confident that it would remain successful in the future.

Principal Competitors

House of Fraser pic; Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation.

Key Dates:

1856:

Thomas Burberry establishes his first shop.

1891:

Burberry begins selling clothing under the Burberry name in London’s Haymarket section.

1909:

The firm registers the “Equestrian Knight” trademark.

1915:

Burberry ships its raincoats to Japan.

1966:

The firm becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Universal Stores.

1994:

The company begins using well-known model Christy Turlington in its ad campaigns.

1996:

By now, Burberry has accumulated a record six Queen’s Awards for Export Achievement and ranks among Great Britain’s leading clothing exporters.

1997:

Rose Marie Bravo is hired as CEO.

1998:

The Asian economic crisis causes financial problems for the firm.

1999:

Burberry launches the Prorsum collection.

2000:

Burberry breaks ground on a new flagship store in London.

Further Reading

“Burberrys Goes Casual,” WWD, December 21, 1993, p. 8.

Burberrys of London: An Elementary History of a Great Tradition, London: Burberry Ltd., 1987.

“Burberry’s Women’s Lines Thriving,” WWD, May 15, 1996, p. 7.

Collier, Andrew, “Burberry Toasts Its History with Museum Exhibit,” WWD, February 14, 1989, p. 10.

Emert, Carol, “Plaid in Dispute Concerning Sale of Burberry’s Items,” Daily News Record, August 8, 1995, p. 5.

Fallon, James, “Bravo on Burberry’s Luxe New Digs: “A Big Strategic Move,” Daily News Record, August 23, 2000, p. 1.

——, “Burberry Considers Offering,” WWD, November 17, 2000, p. 2.

——, “Burberry Profits More Than Double in Year,” Daily News Record, June 9, 2000, p. IB.

——, “Burberrys in U.S. to Get New Line,” Daily News Record, August 23, 1990, p. 3.

——, “Burberrys’ Next Generation; Company Revamps Thomas Burberry Line to Appeal to Younger Customer,” Daily News Record, November 26, 1996, p. 3.

——, “Prorsum From Burberry: More Revolution Than Evolution,” Daily News Record, June 21, 1999, p. 5.

Gray, Robert, “A Green and Pleasant Brand,” Marketing, July 20, 1995, pp. 22–23.

Gray, Robert, and Arthur Friedman, “Finally, Some Sunshine for Rainwear,” WWD, April 16, 1996, pp. 7–8.

Heller, Richard, “A British Gucci,” Forbes, April 3, 2000, p. 84.

Pogoda, Dianne M., “Tipping the Sales,” WWD, May 4,1994, pp. 8–9.

Porter, Janet, “Burberrys Weathers Dollar Fall,” Journal of Commerce and Commercial, February 26, 1987, pp. 1A, 6A.

“Stretching the Plaid,” Economist, February 3, 2001, p. 7.

The Story of the Trenchcoat, London: Burberry of London, 1993.

Underwood, Elaine, “Check-ing Out,” Brandweek, December 11, 1995, p. 32.

Woolcock, Keith, “The Great Universal Mystery,” Management Today, November 1994, pp. 48–52.

—April Dougal Gasbarre
—update: Christina M. Stansell

Burberrys Ltd.

18-22 Haymarket
London, SW1Y 4DQ
England
(71) 839-2434
Fax: (71) 839-6691

Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Great Universal Stores plc
Founded: 1856
Sales: £230.8 million (US$374.1 billion) (1995 est.)
SICs: 2300 Apparel & Other Textile Products; 5651 Family Clothing Stores; 5961 Catalog & Mail-Order Houses

Burberrys Ltd. is a 140-year-old manufacturer and marketer of men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, as well as accessories, food and beverages, and fragrances. The Burberry name is virtually synonymous with the tan gabardine raincoat pioneered by the company more than 140 years ago. Writing for WWD (Women’s Wear Daily) in 1989, Andrew Collier described the garment as “a mainstay in outerwear worldwide, [that] symbolizes all that is Britain: sturdy and unassuming, equally at home in fine hotels and muddy lanes.”

In the mid-1990s, the company had 18 Burberrys stores in the United Kingdom, 20 in Europe, 23 in the United States, and 162 franchised locations in the Asia-Pacific region. Notwithstanding its varied lines, the company’s trench coat—offered in about 100 different styles—accounted for approximately 40 percent of its annual sales, or 8,000 raincoats each week. Ironically, however, private label menswear constituted the largest segment of its sales volume. An icon of classic clothing, Burberrys has utilized licensing and brand extensions to appeal to a younger generation of fashion-conscious customers. The brand’s worldwide retail sales, including licensees and other retail distributors, total more than US$1 billion. The company is a subsidiary of Britain’s Great Universal Stores pic, the very closely held £2.8 billion mail-order and retail apparel conglomerate.

19th-century Origins

Founder Thomas Burberry was born in 1835 and apprenticed in the drapery trade, establishing his own drapery business in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 1856. A sportsman, Burberry was dissatisfied with the then-popular rubberized mackintosh raincoat, which was heavy, restricting, and stifling, and therefore unsuitable for extended outings. Inspired by country folk’s loose “smocks,” Burberry designed a tightly-woven fabric made from water-repellent linen or cotton yarn. While sturdy and tear-resistant, this “Burberry-proofed” cloth was lightweight and allowed air to circulate, making it considerably more comfortable than the heavy mackintosh. The tailor trade-marked his cloth “Gabardine,” a Shakespearean term that referred to shelter from inclement weather. Burberry developed five different weights of gabardine: “Airylight,” “Double-Weave,” “Karoo,” “Wait-a-bit,” and “Tropical.” He even patented “Burberry-proofed” linings made from silk and wool.

Burberry was a shrewd marketer, employing trademarking and advertising to great benefit. Illustrated advertisements touting the clothing “designed by sportsmen for sportsmen” drew customers to Burberry’s retail outlet, which was established in London’s Haymarket section in 1891. Having used a variety of labels to distinguish its garments from imitations, the company registered the “Equestrian Knight” trademark in 1909, an insignia used continuously through the mid-1990s. Also employed in the corporate logo, this image represents several Burberrys ideals. The armor signifies the protection afforded by the outerwear, the “Chivalry of Knighthood” reflects the company’s own standards of integrity, and the Latin adverb “prorsum” (“forward”) referred to Burberrys’ innovative fabrics and styles.

Although the gabardine name was used under exclusive trademark by Burberrys until 1917, Britain’s King Edward, one of the first members of the royal family to don the gabardine coat, has been credited with popularizing the Burberry name by requesting the garment by name. Burberry garments have enjoyed a loyal following among royalty and celebrities around the world ever since. The company’s clientele has included Winston Churchill, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Humphrey Bogart, George Bernard Shaw, Al Jolson, Peter Falk, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, and Paul Newman. The company also boasts warrants (endorsements of quality) from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. Considered a “rite of passage” by some commoners, a Burberry coat was a prerequisite to a first job interview.

New Products for the New Century

By the turn of the century, Burberrys offered an extensive line of outerwear for both men and women. The company designed hats, jackets, pants and gaiters especially for hunting, fishing, golf, tennis, skiing, archery, and mountaineering. The garments’ time- and weather-tested reputation for durability helped make them the gear of choice for adventurers of the late 19th and early 20th century. Balloonists and early aviators wore specially-made Burberry garments that let neither wind nor rain penetrate. Captain Roald Amundsen, Captain R. F. Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton wore Burberry clothing and took shelter in Burberry tents on their expeditions to the South Pole in the 1910s.

Burberrys established its first foreign outlet in Paris in 1910 and soon had retail establishments in the United States and South America. It exported its first shipment of raincoats to Japan in 1915. However, it was the First World War that brought widespread acclamation and fame to Burberry. First worn by high-ranking generals during the turn of the century Boer War in South Africa, the Burberry coat was soon adopted as standard issue for all British officers. With the addition of epaulets and other military trappings, the garments came to be known as “Trench Coats,” so named for their ubiquity and durability through trench warfare. One Royal Flying Corps veteran wrote a testimonial noting that “During the War, I crashed in the (English) Channel when wearing a Burberry trench coat and had to discard it. It was returned to me a week later, having been in the sea for five days. I have worn it ever since and it is still going strong.” The company estimated that 500,000 Burberrys were worn and perhaps more important, brought home, by veterans.

Rainwear became so important to Burberrys that the company soon whittled its lines down to little more than trench coats and tailored menswear for much of the 20th century. The notoriously conservative manufacturer stuck primarily to its well-known raincoats until the 1960s, when a fluke led Burberrys to capitalize on the garments’ trademark tan, black, red and white plaid lining. It all started with a window display at the company’s Paris store. The shop’s manager spiced up her arrangement of trench coats by turning up the hem of one coat to show off its checked lining, then repeated the check on an array of umbrellas. The clamor for the umbrellas was so immediate and compelling that Burberry’s made and quickly sold hundreds. This experiment eventually led to the introduction of the cashmere scarf, also a perennial best-seller. By the 1990s, Burberry offered six different umbrella models and scarves in eight color schemes. This turning point in the company’s merchandising scheme notwithstanding, rainwear remained Burberrys single largest line into the late 1970s and early 1980s, and menswear continued to dominate.

Exports, Women’s and Children’s Apparel Emphasized in the 1980s and 1990s

Burberrys export business increased dramatically during the 1980s, fueled primarily by Japanese and American craving for prestigious designer goods. By mid-decade, exports constituted two-thirds of the British company’s sales, with over one-fourth of exports headed to Japan and another 15 percent sold in the United States. By 1996, Burberrys had accumulated a record six Queen’s Awards for Export Achievement and ranked among Great Britain’s leading clothing exporters. Overseas sales continued to grow by double-digit percentages in the early 1990s.

Realizing that “A fine tradition is not in itself sufficient today,” Burberrys sought to broaden its appeal to a younger, more fashion-conscious female clientele. Acknowledging that “The first thing people think of when they hear ‘Burberrys’ is a man’s trench coat,” U.S. Managing Director Barry Goldsmith asserted in a 1994 WWD article that “that’s the image we’re up against.” One result was the Thomas Burberry collection, first introduced in Great Britain in 1988 and extended to the United States two years later. The new merchandise was priced 15 percent to 30 percent less than Burberrys’ designer lines, bringing a blouse down to $90 versus the normal $150 to $225, for example. Yet it wasn’t just the price tags that set this “bridge line” apart from the brand’s more traditional garb. The collection emphasized more casual sportswear, as opposed to career wear. “Updated classics” included youthful plaid mini kilts, jumpers, and snug “jean fit” slacks. U.S. advertising executive David Lipman called the line and its model, Christy Turlington, “modernly relevant, yet classically beautiful.” At the upper end of the scale, Burberrys launched a personal tailoring service for the ladies. The company’s women’s division grew 30 percent from 1994 to early 1996 and was expected not only to overtake menswear, but to constitute over 70 percent of total annual sales by 1999.

Although it continued to manufacture 90 percent of its merchandise in British factories, Burberry’s also started licensing its name, plaid, and knight logo to other manufacturers. By the mid-1990s, the Burberrys name added panache to handbags and belts, throw pillows and boxer shorts, cookies and crackers, and fragrances and liquor. Childrenswear, stuffed toys, watches, handbags, golf bags, and even a co-branded VISA credit card sported the Burberry check.

Company Perspectives:

Burberrys are recognized internationally as representing the epitome of true British style. With 55 stores worldwide, two Royal Warrants and six Queen’s Awards for export, Burberrys has come a long way since its foundation in 1856.

Burberry’s efforts at product and geographic diversification appeared to be paying off in the mid-1990s. Sales (including a small sister subsidiary, Scotch House) increased by over one-third, from £200.9 million in fiscal 1994 (ended March 31) to £267.8 million in 1996. Net income before taxes grew twice as fast, from £41.1 million to £70 million, during the same period. Given the company’s timeless appeal, reputation for quality, strong licensing program, and its backing by British retail powerhouse Great Universal Stores, Burberrys appeared poised to sustain its record of rapid, profitable growth in the mid-1990s.

Principal Subsidiaries

Burberrys Limited (USA); Burberrys (Products) Ltd.

Further Reading

“Burberrys Goes Casual,” WWD, December 21, 1993, p. 8.

Burberrys of London: An Elementary History of a Great Tradition, London: Burberrys Ltd., 1987.

“Burberry’s Women’s Lines Thriving,” WWD, May 15, 1996, p. 7.

Collier, Andrew, “Burberry Toasts Its History with Museum Exhibit,” WWD, February 14, 1989, p. 10.

Emert, Carol, “Plaid in Dispute Concerning Sale of Burberrys Items,” Daily News Record, August 8, 1995, p. 5.

Fallon, James, “Burberrys in U.S. to Get New Line,” Daily News Record, August 23, 1990, p. 3.

Gray, Robert, “A Green and Pleasant Brand,” Marketing, July 20, 1995, pp. 22-23.

Pogoda, Dianne M., “Tipping the Sales,” WWD, May 4,1994, pp. 8-9.

—, and Friedman, Arthur, “Finally, Some Sunshine for Rainwear,” WWD, April 16, 1996, pp. 7-8.

Porter, Janet, “Burberrys Weathers Dollar Fall,” Journal of Commerce and Commercial, February 26, 1987, pp. 1A, 6A.

The Story of the Trenchcoat, London: Burberrys of London, 1993.

Underwood, Elaine, “Checking Out,” Brandweek, December 11, 1995, p. 32.

Woolcock, Keith, “The Great Universal Mystery,” Management Today, November 1994, pp. 48-52.

—April Dougal Gasbarre

BURBERRY

British clothiers

Founded: in 1856. Originally a draper's shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, founded by Thomas Burberry (1835-1926), and specializing in waterproof overcoats. Company History: Opened London store in the Haymarket, 1891; trenchcoat introduced, 1901; Burberry established as a trademark, 1909; women's clothing lines added, and Paris branch opened, 1910; bought by Great Universal Stores, 1955; New York branch opened, 1978; toiletries line introduced, 1981; fragrances introduced, 1991; Christy Turlington ads make plaid trench chic again, 1993; Anne Marie Bravo hired as chief executive, 1997; Roberto Menichetti hired as head designer, 1998; Menichetti departs, replaced by Christopher Bailey, 2001; New York store refurbished >and expanded, 2001; public offering of shares planned, 2002. Exhibitions: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1989. Company Address: 29-53 Chatham Place, Hackney, London E9 6LP, England. Company Website: www.gusplc.co.uk/burberry/html.

Publications

By BURBERRYS:

Books

Burberrys: An Elementary History of a Great Tradition, London. The Story of the Trenchcoat, London, 1993.

On BURBERRYS:

Books

Garrulus, Coracias, ed., Open Spaces, London.

Coatts, Margot, The Burberry Story [exhibition catalogue], London, 1989.

Articles

Brady, James, "Going Back to the Trenches," in the New York Post,10 October 1978.

Morris, Bernadine, "Coat Maker Marks 125 Years in the Rain," in the New York Times, 21 January 1981.

Gleizes, Serge, "Burberry's Story," in L'Officiel (Paris), October 1986.

Britton, Noelle, "Burberry Brightens Its Image," in Marketing, 11 February 1988.

Kanner, Bernice, "Scents of Accomplishment," in New York, 18 March 1991.

White, Constance C.R., "Excitement at Burberry," in the New York Times, 31 December 1996.

Goldstein, Lauren, "Dressing Up an Old Brand," in Fortune, 9 November 1998.

Schiro, Anne-Marie, "Burberry Modernizes and Reinvents Itself," in the New York Times, 5 January 1999.

Menkes, Suzy, "Durable Chic: A Century of the Trench," in the International Herald Tribune, 4 April 2000.

Heller, Richard, "A British Gucci," in Forbes, 3 April 2000.

Profile, "Stretching the Plaid: Face Value," in the Economist, 3 February 2001.

Voyle, Susanna, "Burberry Nets Gucci Designer," in the Financial Times, 4 May 2001.

Kapner, Suzanne, "Suddenly Less Plaid is More for Burberry's Chief," in the New York Times, 24 June 2001.

Burberry was founded by Thomas Burberry (1835-1926), the inventor of the Burberry waterproof coat. The origin of the term "Burberry" to describe the famous waterproof garments is thought to have derived from the fact that Edward VII was in the habit of commanding, "Give me my Burberry," although Burberry himself had christened his invention "Gabardinee."

The original shooting and fishing garments were produced in response to the perceived need for the ideal waterproof—one that would withstand wind and rain to a reasonable degree and yet allow air to reach the body. From Thomas Burberry's original drapery shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 1856 to the opening of its prestigious premises in London's Haymarket in 1891, Burberrys has employed what the trade journal Men's Wear of June 1904 termed "splendid advertising media" to promote their clothing. Some of the earliest advertising read, "T. Burberry's Gabardinee—for India and the Colonies is the most suitable of materials. It resists hot and cold winds, rain or thorns, and forms a splendid top garment for the coldest climates."

Endorsement was given at the beginning of the century by both Roald Amundsen, on his expedition to the South Pole, who wrote from Hobart on 18 March 1912: "Heartiest thanks. Burberry overalls were made extensive use of during the sledge journey to the Pole and proved real good friends indeed," and Captain Scott, whose Burberry gabardine tent used on his sledge journey "Furthest South" was exhibited at the Bruton Galleries in that same year. Burberry also produced menswear and womenswear for motoring from the earliest appearance of the motor car, or as their illustrated catalogues put it, "Burberry adapts itself to the exigencies of travel in either closed or open cars…and at the same time satisfies every ideal of good taste and distinction."

The turn-of-the-century appeal to the ideal of "taste and distinction" always proved a potent force in the appeal of Burberry designs. The traditional Burberry Check and the New House Checks are protected as part of the UK trademark registration and are now used in a wide range of Burberry designs, from the traditional use as a lining for weathercoats to men's, women's, and children's outerwear, a range of accessories and luggage, toiletries, and several collections of Swiss-made watches featuring the Burberry Check and the trademark Prorsum Horse.

In the 1980s such distinctive goods satisfied the desire for label clothes in their appeal to young consumers as well as to traditional buyers both in Britain and abroad. In the 1990s the diversity of goods designed by Burberry, from a countrywide home shopping and visiting tailor service in Great Britain, to an internationally available range of Fine Foods proved the efficacy of the Burberry tradition. The company's power as an international household name signifying an instantly identifiable traditional Englishness is attested by the fact that "Burberry" and the logo of the equestrian knight in armor are registered trademarks.

Near the end of the 20th century, Rose Marie Bravo, who was credited with the turnaround of Saks Fifth Avenue, was brought in to revitalize the company and its image. With Asia, its biggest market, rocked by economic woes and flooding the market with grey goods, Bravo set about rebuilding the Burberry brand in the UK and Europe, and to control licensing by selling only to select luxury retailers. She also hired Italian-American Roberto Menichetti as her new head designer in 1998, who quickly made Burberry's Prorsum brand fashion's hottest ticket for women. Then, with the recognizable Burberry plaid on everything in sight, from swimwear and baby clothes to shoes and dog accessories, Bravo scaled back to avoid overexposure, cleverly hiding the trademarked pattern in a wide range of nonplaid garments.

Burberry took a hit when designer Menichetti left the company. Replaced with the virtually unknown Christopher Bailey from Gucci in 2001, Bravo hoped Bailey could bring a cohesive style to all of the Burberry clothing, though he would be responsible only for the Prorsum line.

Parent company Great Universal Stores was planning a public offering of Burberrys shares sometime in 2002, and continued an aggressive expansion to increase its presence in France, Italy, and the United States. In the U.S., which accounted for only a fifth of the retailer's worldwide sales, several new Burberry stores were slated to open in smaller upscale malls while the New York City flagship store on East 57th Street underwent extensive renovation and expansion. Burberrys also planned to open its first store in Beverly Hills.

With the Burberry name once again firmly entrenched as a fashion must-have, the 145-year old company has proven that its plaid will never go out of style. Looking back at her odyssey of pulling Burberry back from the brink of extinction, Bravo told Forbes in April 2000, "Coming in, I had studied Hermés and Gucci and other great brands, and it struck me that even during the periods when they had dipped a bit, they never lost the essence of whatever made those brands sing." With Bravo on board, Burberry has once again hit a high note.

—DoreenEhrlich;

updated by OwenJames

BURBERRY

Although overtly recognized by its trademark check of red, black, white, and camel, Burberry is principally renowned for its innovation in waterproof clothing, rather than for the design of the lining material that traditionally lies beneath the outer gabardine cloth. Yet such is the power of reinvention, that to many the reverse is true. Burberry as a company is a rare thing—a British brand of clothing and goods that has successfully held on to its traditions while being able to re-mold itself into a covetable luxury brand that competes in a worldwide market. Thomas Burberry's invention of waterproof gabardine cloth has ensured that the form of

apparel his company sold became bound to his name, so that the definition of Burberry in the Oxford English Dictionary reads "a distinguished type of raincoat."

Born in 1835, Thomas Burberry opened an outfitters shop in Basingstoke in 1856 at the relatively young age of twenty-one. As an ambitious country draper, Burberry was inspired by metropolitan ideas of fashionable dress, but drew upon local examples of work clothing to develop his ideas. His starting point was a loose-fitting linen smock that farmers and shepherds wore all year-round. Noticing that it kept the workers cool in summer yet warm in winter, he found on closer inspection that the close weave of the fabric helped to keep out the wet, while the looseness of the garment allowed for the circulation of air without inhibiting movement. By 1879 Burberry had refined his prototype fabric from his own mill to a cloth woven from long-staple Egyptian cotton. It created a fabric that was waterproof, breathable, rip-resistant and crease-proof. Burberry termed it gabardine cloth, reviving an old term for a loose coat or cloak. It soon came to the attention of motorists, travelers, and explorers who used the weatherproof overcoat, often referred to as a "slip-on," in all weather conditions. When supported on four sticks, many an intrepid Colonial knew its additional use as an impromptu bathtub.

With a London store opening on Haymarket in 1890 (it remains the company headquarters to this day), the company grew to include a wholesale division and shops in Paris and New York by the turn of the century. Ever ready to protect the interests of his business and its products, Burberry registered the logo in 1904 and the eponymous check in 1920 (it did not appear on the lining of the raincoat until 1924). Further, in 1932 the company pioneered the department-store concession devoted exclusively to the sale of Burberry's goods.

The British War Office in 1900 commissioned Burberry to design an overcoat to replace the heavily rubberized mackintoshes that were then standard issue. The lightweight cotton raincoat designed incorporated D-ring belt clasps, straps, and epaulettes for better function in combat and it soon gained popularity when endorsed by Lord Kitchener. As the most suitable protection from the appalling conditions of trench warfare, it is the origin of what we now refer to as the trench coat.

In 1970, Burberry opened a New York flagship store on east Fifty-Seventh Street. With the resurgence of the luxury goods market in the last decade of the twentieth century, the financially flailing company appointed Rose Marie Bravo in 1997 from Saks, New York as Chief Executive whose responsibility was to revive the brand. According to a story in the Daily Telegraph, her American friends dismissed her new job as "selling raincoats in London," but within five years the value of the company rose from £200 million to £1.5 billion ($350 million to $2.67 billion). The linchpin of this transformation was the decision to use the check of the lining on the outer gabardine cloth of the raincoat in the first collection shown at London Fashion Week for A/W 1999/2000. When the model Kate Moss was caught by the paparazzi wearing the raincoat in the street rather than on the catwalk, demand for the item was unparalleled. In being worn in such a casual way, the raincoat signaled a metropolitan savvy that claimed as much an understanding of the visual heritage of British clothing, as an understanding of fashionable taste.

Although credited to Roberto Menichetti, the first appointed fashion designer for the company, the fashionability of the item was influenced by the subversive ideas of American fashion designer Miguel Androver and British fashion designer Russell Sage, who had both flaunted the inside-out Burberry raincoat in their catwalk collections for A/W 2000/1. While Androver mined the cachet of the checked lining in terms of the selling of vintage goods and their reuse, Sage questioned the legal permissibility of appropriating registered goods, sardonically titling his collection "So Sue Me." Later in the same year, Burberry commissioned Mario Testino to photograph their campaigns, astutely hiring Kate Moss as the chief model.

The allure of the check reached unprecedented heights: young mothers dressed their babies in checked bibs, hooligans wore Burberry scarves in tribute to the Casuals who wore them on football terraces in the 1980s, and even Cherie Blair, prime minister Tony Blair's wife, once sported a handbag. Menichetti's response to this popular exposure was to make the high-end Prosorum range showcased in Milan even more directional, causing him to be replaced by Christopher Bailey in 2000, who brought a more commercial and digestible level of reinvention to the product range. To this end, the variation on a raincoat remains core to the company's design repertoire.

From the water-logged trenches of military warfare at the beginning of the twentieth century to the swimming-pool terraces of the twenty-first century, the insatiable demand for the Burberry bikini in 2001 indicates that the kind of water protection the company is now investing in may have diversified considerably, but it remains curiously consistent with Thomas Burberry's sense of reinvention.

See alsoLondon Fashion; Raincoat; Rainwear .

bibliography

Barrow, Becky. "£10m Ride from Bronx to Burberry's." Daily Telegraph, 24 June 2002.

Ewing, Elizabeth. History of Twentieth Century Fashion. London: Batsford, 1974.

Sudjic, Deyan. Cult Objects: The Complete Guide to Having It All. London: Paladin, 1985.

Thornton, Phil. Casuals: The Story of Terrace Fashion. Lytham, U.K.: Milo Books, 2003.

Alistair O'Neill