In what year did Burberry introduce its trench coat for British officers? The answer is 1914.
Burberry’s military raincoat emerged as Europe moved into the First World War. The company adapted earlier waterproof outerwear for British Army officers, and the trench-coat design is associated with 1914. It was intended to provide protection from rain and wind while allowing officers to move and carry equipment in battlefield conditions.
The coat grew from Thomas Burberry’s earlier innovations. He developed gabardine in 1879 and patented the tightly woven, water-resistant fabric in 1888. Burberry had also designed military-oriented coats before the war, so the 1914 trench coat was an evolution rather than an entirely sudden invention.
A common mix-up is to date the garment to 1918, the final year of the First World War. However, the design was introduced during the conflict, not at its end. The name “trench coat” became associated with the trenches, while features such as epaulettes, storm flaps, belts, and D-rings reflected its military purpose.