Photo credits: Wikipedia. Thomas Burberry
Secrets of Success, Love, and Life: The Legacy of the World’s Visionaries. A recurring Monaco Voice column exploring the lives, achievements, and philosophies of the world’s most influential visionaries, uncovering the secrets behind their success and enduring legacies curated by actress Vladyslava Garkusha.
Thomas Burberry was a man of fabric, function, and a particularly British kind of understatement. There were no Parisian ateliers, no signature perfumes named after his moods. Just gabardine. And a deep belief that clothing should do its job - with elegance, of course.
Born in 1835 in the small village of Brockham Green, Surrey, Burberry was apprenticed to a draper before opening his own shop in Basingstoke at 21 years old. The town was unremarkable, the weather reliably grim, and the clientele practical. All of which suited him perfectly.
By the 1870s, he wasn’t just selling coats - he was revolutionizing them. In 1879, Burberry invented gabardine, a tightly woven, breathable, water-resistant fabric. It was comfortable, lightweight, and - unlike the heavy wool and rubberized garments of the era - ideal for real life. He patented it in 1888, and the world of outerwear was never quite the same.
Photo credits: Burberry
Burberry wasn’t content to keep his fabric on the high streets. He looked further. In 1893, Norwegian polar explorer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Fridtjof Nansen became the first recorded Arctic adventurer to wear Burberry’s gabardine, testing its limits in the icy north. The relationship between Burberry and explorers only deepened: Sir Ernest Shackleton wore Burberry gabardine on three expeditions in the early 20th century.
Then came war. Commissioned by the British War Office, Burberry designed a new kind of military coat - functional, weatherproof, and elegant. The trench coat was born, complete with epaulettes, storm flaps, and D-rings. Soldiers wore it in the trenches. Civilians wore it on the streets. Silver screen actors wore it in rain-drenched kisses.
Photo credits: Burberry
Photo credits: Burberry
Despite the rising fame of his brand, Burberry remained intensely private. He was a devout Baptist, abstained from alcohol and tobacco, and campaigned for healthy living. In 1917, he retired to a quiet estate in Dorset, holding daily prayer meetings and staying far from the fashion circus he helped launch.
He married Catherine Hannah Newman in 1858. They had six children - two sons and four daughters. After her death, he remarried Mary Marshall.
Quiet Visionary, Global Impact
The power of a well-made coat, the potential of a new fabric, the dignity of staying dry in the rain. His legacy - gabardine, the trench coat, the Burberry check, and the enduring equestrian knight logo - remains stitched into fashion history.
Photo credits: Burberry Instagram
From its humble beginnings in a small English town to a symbol of sophistication worn around the world, Burberry remains an enduring luminary in fashion’s ever-changing landscape.