Perfected in Yorkshire.
Recognised in every
city on earth.
The trench coat is the only garment that went directly from a battlefield to a film noir set to the pages of every major fashion house without losing its essential form.
Browse trench coats →The classic trench coat is double-breasted with ten front buttons, wide peak lapels, a self-belt with D-rings at each hip, raglan sleeves ending in cuff straps, a gun flap across the right chest, epaulettes on both shoulders, a storm flap across the back, and a rear vent for mobility. These were not design decisions. They were engineering solutions to the specific conditions of trench warfare on the Western Front.
The gun flap solved a precise problem: officers raising the right arm to use binoculars or fire a pistol opened the coat's double-breasted front to driving rain. The added layer sealed it. The D-rings on the belt originally carried map cases, binocular cases, and swords — not grenades, despite the persistent myth. The cuff straps sealed the wrists against rain running down the forearm. The raglan sleeve allowed full arm extension without pulling open the shoulder seam.
The rear storm flap — the cape-like panel across the back shoulders — serves two functions: it channels rain away from the back panel, and it allows ventilation when the wearer is exerting themselves. The rear vent, usually a box pleat or a simple back slit, allowed soldiers to mount horses or move quickly. Many vintage trench coats have a removable wool lining, originally used for warmth in winter, which could also function as an emergency ground covering.
High, with internal hooks or a button at the throat. Designed to close completely against wind and rain. The turned-up collar of the classic trench is not affectation — it is the garment working as designed.
Fabric straps buttoned at each shoulder. Functionally used to hold rank insignia and to secure gloves tucked into the shoulder. Now a decorative acknowledgment of the coat's military origin.
Self-fabric, with a plain buckle. Designed to cinch the coat against wind and to carry equipment via the D-rings. The belt is the trench coat's primary silhouette-defining element — the difference between a structured and a relaxed wear.
The original WWI trench coat was sized to be worn over the British Warm wool coat. Later versions added a removable wool or checked flannel lining for independent cold-weather use. A quality vintage trench with its original lining intact is a significantly rarer find.
of the trench
A tightly woven twill invented by Thomas Burberry in 1879 by coating individual yarns with lanolin before weaving — not the whole cloth. Breathable and water-resistant. The material that made the trench coat possible.
The extra layer of fabric across the right chest. A waterproof seal: raising the right arm to fire opens the coat's breast to rain. The flap closes that gap. Not, despite the name, padding for a rifle butt.
The metal ring on the belt at each hip. Originally for attaching map cases, binoculars, swords, or equipment. Later mythologised as a grenade hook. Now a purely aesthetic reference to the coat's military origin.
Burberry's 1912 patent for a belted waterproof officer's coat with broad lapels, double-breasted front, and cuff straps. The direct precursor to the trench coat by name. Designed for the Boer War; refined for the First World War.
A sleeve that extends in one piece from neck to cuff with no shoulder seam. Named after Field Marshal Lord Raglan of the Crimean War. Allows full arm movement without breaking the waterproof seal at the shoulder.
The extra panel of fabric that crosses the back shoulders. Its function is ventilation and drainage: it channels water away from the back and allows body heat to escape without allowing rain in.
In 1823, Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh discovered he could dissolve rubber in coal tar naptha and coat wool cloth with the result, producing the first waterproof fabric. His partner Thomas Hancock improved the process in 1843 using vulcanization, producing a lighter, more wearable coat. The 'mackintosh' was practical but notorious for trapping heat and body odour. The rubber coating blocked both water and air.
John Emary, a Mayfair tailor, solved the breathability problem in 1853 by developing a different proofed wool. He renamed his company Aquascutum — from the Latin aqua (water) and scutum (shield) — and supplied officers during the Crimean War. Thomas Burberry, a 21-year-old Hampshire draper who founded his business in 1856, solved the problem differently: in 1879 he invented gabardine by coating individual yarn fibres with lanolin before weaving, rather than coating the finished cloth. The resulting fabric was breathable and water-resistant. Ernest Shackleton wore Burberry gabardine in Antarctica in 1907; George Mallory wore a Burberry gabardine jacket on his 1924 Everest attempt.
Burberry submitted a gabardine officer's coat to the War Office in 1901. In 1912, Burberry patented the Tielocken — a knee-length, double-breasted, belted waterproof coat with broad lapels and cuff straps. The name 'trench coat' was coined in a tailoring trade magazine in 1916, when the garment had been in active use on the Western Front for two years. The name came from the soldiers themselves.
Charles Macintosh's rubberised cloth: waterproof but airtight. Practical in rain, miserable in wear. The problem it posed — breathability — is what produced both Aquascutum and Burberry's gabardine.
John Emary's proofed wool. More breathable than the mackintosh. Supplied officers in the Crimean War. Aquascutum and Burberry both claim credit for the trench coat. Both were supplying the British military before WWI.
Burberry's innovation: coat individual yarns with lanolin before weaving. The cloth breathes. The structure repels water. Still the standard material for a serious trench coat.
Double-breasted, ten buttons, gun flap, epaulettes, D-ring belt, raglan sleeves, rear vent, removable lining. The silhouette has not changed. The 1916 name described a garment that already existed.
| Era | Moment | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1823 | The Mackintosh | Charles Macintosh patents rubberised fabric. First waterproof coat. Breathability problem creates the demand that both Aquascutum and Burberry will solve. |
| 1853 | Aquascutum founded | John Emary, Mayfair. Proofed cloth: breathable water-resistant wool. Supplies Crimean War officers. Latin name: water shield. |
| 1856 | Burberry founded | Thomas Burberry, Basingstoke, Hampshire. Begins as an outdoor clothier. Focus on breathable, weatherproof outerwear. |
| 1879 | Gabardine invented | Burberry coats individual yarns with lanolin before weaving. The resulting cloth is breathable and water-resistant. The trench coat's definitive material. |
| 1899–1902 | Boer War | Burberry gabardine coats worn by British officers in South Africa. Burberry becomes an official outfitter of the British Army. |
| 1912 | The Tielocken patented | Burberry's patent: knee-length, double-breasted, belted, broad lapels, cuff straps. The direct precursor in everything but name. |
| 1916 | 'Trench coat' coined | A tailoring trade magazine names the garment. The form already exists; only the name is new. Issued to British Officers and Warrant Officers Class I. |
| 1920s | Burberry Check introduced | The Burberry Check lining is added to trench coats. Initially a hidden interior detail. In 1967, repurposed as an accessory by a Paris buyer. |
| 1942 | Casablanca | Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine. The trench coat becomes the uniform of the world-weary, conflicted hero. Film noir establishes it as civilian fashion. |
| 1961 | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in the final rain scene. The trench coat crosses definitively into women's fashion as a symbol of sophistication under pressure. |
Founded Mayfair 1853 by John Emary. The company that disputes Burberry's claim to the trench coat's invention. Aquascutum supplied British officers in the Crimean War and was the official Allied outfitter in WWII. Its House Check — a tan and cream tartan with a thin stripe — predates Burberry's check as an accessory. Aquascutum was acquired by Harold Tillman in 2009 and fell into administration in 2012; the brand continues under Chinese ownership. Vintage Aquascutum trench coats from the 1960s through 1990s, when the company was producing in Britain at high quality, are among the most worthwhile vintage outerwear finds on the market.
Founded Basingstoke 1856. Gabardine 1879. Tielocken 1912. The trench coat as Burberry conceived it — double-breasted, gabardine, ten buttons, belted, gun flap, D-rings, check lining — is still in production at the company's Yorkshire factory. The Kensington and Waterloo are its two signature cuts. Pre-1999 Burberrys of London labels indicate Made in England production and are the most collected vintage examples.
The Scottish mackintosh maker — founded in Glasgow, now produced in Cumbernauld — represents the third waterproof outerwear tradition: bonded rubber, not gabardine. The classic Mackintosh coat uses vulcanised rubber-bonded cotton. Acquired by Yoichi Kawasaki in 2007, it is now produced in extremely limited runs. A vintage Mackintosh of Scottish production is an entirely different object from a Burberry trench coat: waxier, stiffer, quieter, more peculiarly British.
Margiela's engagement with the trench coat ran throughout his tenure at Maison Margiela (1988–2014). He showed trench coats reversed, relined, aged deliberately, turned inside out to expose construction. His interest was in the garment's mythology: what it signified when worn and how much of that signification survived once the garment was visibly dismantled.
Philo at Céline (2008–2018) used the trench coat as one of her primary authority garments: oversized, belted loosely or not at all, in cashmere or wool-cashmere rather than gabardine. No gun flap, no D-rings, no epaulettes — all military references removed. What remained was the silhouette and the sense of privacy the coat creates around the body.
The Row's trench coats abandon all military details. No epaulettes, no D-rings, no gun flap. The argument is entirely in the cloth: cashmere-gabardine, double-faced wool, silk-lined. The Row trench is the furthest distance the garment has travelled from its origin while still being recognisably the same shape. It is the most expensive version of the simplest coat.
Founded Paris 1987 by Jean Touitou. The brand most associated with the restrained, Parisian, minimalist trench — straight cut, clean gabardine, no hardware flourishes. The default reference for understated European outerwear.
Founded Stockholm 2014. Their trench coats — oversized, in neutral wools and fine gabardines — are among the most referenced in the contemporary quiet luxury conversation. Clean proportions. No archive nostalgia.
Founded Stockholm 1996. Acne's trench coats tend toward an exaggerated or slightly off-register silhouette: oversized, or unusual in length, or in unexpected cloth. The trench as a shape to be slightly misread rather than faithfully reproduced.
Founded Reggio Emilia 1951. Max Mara's coat-making is among the most consistently excellent in luxury ready-to-wear. Their trench coats in wool-gabardine are exceptional pieces of construction.
The regulation WWI silhouette: knee-length, double-breasted, gun flap right chest, belted with D-rings, raglan sleeves with cuff straps, epaulettes, rear storm flap and vent. Still produced at Burberry's Yorkshire factory. The pre-1999 Burberrys of London label indicates British manufacture and is the most collected.
A single row of buttons rather than the overlapping double-breasted front. Loses some of the waterproofing logic but gains a cleaner silhouette for civilian use. Most contemporary designer trench coats — Burberry Waterloo, A.P.C., Toteme — are offered in single-breasted versions.
All functional military details removed. No gun flap, no D-rings, no epaulettes. The coat retains the overall silhouette — knee-length, belted at the waist, wide lapels — but makes its argument through cloth rather than construction detail. Phoebe Philo's Céline and The Row are the defining references.
A trench coat cut one to three sizes beyond conventional proportions, or extended to the floor. The proportion itself is the statement. Associated with Demna's Balenciaga and the broader oversized fashion conversation of the 2010s. Sometimes in unexpected cloth: leather, vinyl, silk, technical fabric.
On gabardine and 'weatherproof' claims. A vintage trench coat in original cotton or wool gabardine is genuinely water-resistant. Most contemporary trench coats in polyester blends or thin cotton are not. The DWR chemical coatings used on modern fashion pieces wear off with dry-cleaning. A properly made gabardine coat maintains its water resistance through the weave structure itself, not a surface treatment. When buying vintage, cotton or wool gabardine should be the standard — not a selling point, a baseline.
coat of the
twentieth century.
The parka began before the trench coat and survived longer. The Inuit amauti — a hooded pullover coat in caribou or seal skin, treated with animal fat for water resistance — is the origin. The word 'parka' derives from the Nenets language of the Ural Mountains. It entered English in the late eighteenth century.
The US military adopted and industrialised the parka design during WWII. The B-9 Down Parka, designed by Eddie Bauer, was issued to US Air Force flight crews. The N-3B Snorkel Parka followed in 1945: three-quarter length, nylon shell, wool lining, fur-trimmed hood, designed for temperatures as low as -60°F. The fishtail parka followed — M-48, M-51 (Korean War), M-65 (designed 1965) — whose split rear hem that could be drawn up between the legs for warmth gave the garment its name.
The godfather of every parka produced since. Nylon shell, wool pile lining, fur-trimmed hood that zips to a narrow opening. Still produced by Alpha Industries to original military specifications.
The fishtail parka became the uniform of the British Mod subculture in the early 1960s: cheap military surplus, practical on a scooter, capable of covering a tailored suit. The M-65 with its detachable hood became the most widely copied military garment in fashion history.
British teenagers in the early 1960s adopted surplus M-51 and M-65 parkas from Army surplus stores to protect their slim suits while riding Vespas. The parka became the defining garment of the Mod movement.
The fishtail parka became the signature garment of 1990s Britpop, worn most visibly by Liam Gallagher of Oasis. The Mod reference was deliberate and the parka became simultaneously a subcultural symbol and a fashion statement.
Helmut Lang's late 1990s collections brought the parka into high fashion through his minimalist, military-inflected vision. Raf Simons' AW03 collection produced four parka coats that are now considered canonical fashion history pieces.
The contemporary luxury parka conversation is dominated by Moncler (founded Grenoble 1952) and Canada Goose (founded Toronto 1957). Both translate the parka's functional logic into a luxury price point.
The storm flap across the right chest of a classic trench coat is almost universally believed to be padding for a rifle butt. It is not. Its actual function: when an officer raised his right arm to use binoculars or fire a pistol, the double-breasted front of the coat opened at the chest, admitting rain. The extra layer of fabric sealed this gap.
During WWI the trench coat was available only to British Officers and Warrant Officers Class I, who were required to purchase it privately. This exclusivity established the trench coat as a class marker from its first appearance. Returning officers wore their coats to civilian life after 1918, bringing that association with them into peacetime fashion.
Ernest Shackleton wore Burberry gabardine in Antarctica in 1907; Burberry outfitted Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, in 1911. George Mallory wore a Burberry gabardine jacket on his 1924 attempt on Everest, during which he disappeared. The coat was found with his body when it was recovered in 1999.
The Burberry Check became an accessory in 1967 when a buyer in Burberry's Paris store, preparing a fashion presentation, removed the check lining from a coat and used it to wrap luggage. The check accessory — one of the most valuable brand assets in luxury fashion — was born from an improvised presentation solution.
Aquascutum was founded in 1853 and claims to have supplied a version of the trench coat to British officers in the Crimean War. Burberry was founded in 1856 and patented the Tielocken in 1912. Both companies supplied the military before WWI; neither can be assigned sole credit. The most honest position is that the trench coat was a convergent solution.
In 1999, Burberry dropped the 's' from its labelling and shifted substantial production outside Britain. Trench coats labelled 'Burberrys of London' predate this change and were made in England — typically at the company's factory in Castleford, Yorkshire. The cotton gabardine used in pre-1999 production is a heavier, denser weave than most contemporary equivalents.
Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in Casablanca (1942) established the turned-up collar and loosely knotted belt as the trench coat's civilian grammar. After the film, the trench was associated with moral complexity, restrained emotion, and rain. Every subsequent film noir detective, spy, and anti-hero in a trench coat is in conversation with that final scene.
The final scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961): Holly Golightly in the rain, wearing a beige trench coat. The coat is a Burberry Waterloo. The scene established the trench coat as the correct garment for a certain kind of emotional vulnerability — the moment when all the performance of sophistication breaks down in the rain.
Run your hand over the outer shell. Genuine wool or cotton gabardine has a smooth, slightly waxy surface with a distinct diagonal twill visible when held to the light. It feels substantial and slightly stiff when new; it softens with wear and dry-cleaning without losing its structure. Polyester gabardine feels lighter, warmer to the touch, and has an artificial sheen. A serious vintage trench coat is in cotton or wool gabardine. If in doubt: weight tells you.
Check the lining for quality and integrity. A classic trench coat has a checked or solid-colour flannel lining that buttons out — the removable lining is a mark of serious construction. Pre-1999 Burberry pieces have the Nova Check or House Check lining in good condition as a primary authentication signal. A solid silk or satin lining in a simpler trench indicates quality.
Original trench coat buttons are horn, metal, or a resin that approximates horn — heavy, matte, and with a slight irregularity. Plastic buttons are a later replacement or a lower-specification piece. D-ring hardware should be solid metal, not lightweight stamped. On Burberry pieces, the equestrian knight logo on the buttons is a useful dating tool.
Turn the coat inside out at the hem or lining edge. Felled seams — where the seam allowance is folded under and stitched flat — indicate quality construction. Raw or serged-only seams indicate production at speed. The shoulder seam should lie flat with no pulling. The raglan sleeve's seam, running from the collar to the cuff, should be continuous and even.
"There is something about a trench coat that gives the impression of capability. Whoever wears it has been somewhere and is going somewhere else."— On the trench coat's cultural grammar
We test the lining.
We read the label.
Then we decide.
Every trench coat and outerwear piece in our collection has been assessed for cloth quality, construction, and condition. We know the difference. We describe it.
Browse outerwear →Trench & outerwear, available now.
Keep reading — The Good Old
Before you buy a vintage trench.
- How do you know a vintage piece will fit before buying?
- How do you care for vintage garments so they last?
- What makes a vintage piece worth its price?