Fragrance house

Burberry

Established by Thomas Burberry in Basingstoke, England, in 1856, Burberry began with the idea that clothing should protect people from British weather. Thomas Burberry invented gabardine in 1879 and patented it in 1888, while the house’s trench-coat lineage grew from the 1912 Tielocken coat and military apparel supplied during the First World War. Its visual language developed through the Burberry Check, first used as a rainwear lining in the 1920s, and the Equestrian Knight Design, which originated through a public logo competition around 1901. Great Universal Stores acquired Burberry in 1955; following Burberry’s 2002 London Stock Exchange listing, its demerger from GUS was completed in 2005. Today, Burberry is a London-headquartered luxury brand rooted in British heritage, with core authority in outerwear and scarves. In fragrance, Burberry Brit for Men, introduced in 2004 after Burberry Brit for Women in 2003, became the brand’s best-performing men’s fragrance to that date and received five international industry awards. In 2017, Coty acquired exclusive long-term global license rights for Burberry Beauty’s fragrances, cosmetics and skincare, while Burberry retained responsibility for creative elements.