The Barbour story started back in 1894 in the North East of England, Simonside, South Shields, where its headquarters still remain and their classic wax jackets are still made to this day! 1984 was the year that John Barbour opened J Barbour & Sons in 5 Market Place, South Shields. It’s not just amazing coats that we have to thank the Barbours for; in 1908, Malcolm Barbour produced the FIRST EVER mail order catalogue. This was a great move by Malcolm, as by 1917 these mail order catalogues accounted for nearly 75% of Barbour’s business, with orders coming from as far as South Africa and Hong Kong?!
Motorbikes?
Malcolm Barbour who was a keen motorcyclist, introduced a motorcycling collection which included full Barbour suits in 1936. This collection REALLY took off in the motorcycle industry, with almost ALL British International teams wearing the suits from the year of their release until they literally stopped producing them in 1977.
In 1939, Malcolm Barbour and Duncan Barbour’s wife, Nancy, developed the Ursula Suit which became a standard issue for members of the Submarine Service.
A Small Move, but a Big Change
Barbour moved from 5 Market Place to Simonside Trading Estate in 1957, where they finally built a manufacturing plant. After 63 years of being a retailer, Barbour became a manufacturer and marketer!
A Year of Design
In 1980, Barbour came out with the first lightweight, thorn-proof, riding jacket called the Bedale. They also came out with the very recognisable black and gold Barbour International badge, which was first seen on the famous motorcycle jacket of the same name. Shortly after, Barbour moved into a new factory in Simonside where they still remain today.
THE Jacket of Glasto 2007
For a jacket that was traditionally worn for countryside living, the Barbour jacket weirdly became THE jacket to wear at Glastonbury 2007, worn on stage by the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Rufus Wainwright?! Festival-goers clearly caught onto the practical features of wearing a wax jacket in the drizzly British weather.
Time for Collaboration!
In 2013, Barbour started sponsoring Newcastle Falcons rugby team and supplied them with their official off-field attire, dressing the players, coaches and managers. Shortly after in 2014, Barbour launched its first collaboration with Land Rover, with clothing and accessories that came out in Autumn/ Winter for both men and women. Another first for Barbour was presenting their brand at London Fashion Week with their Autumn/ Winter collection in 2015 at the Swiss Church in Covent Garden. In 2016, Barbour signed their first Global Brand Ambassador, Sam Heughan, a Scottish actor who had links with John Barbour and loved the outdoors, making him the perfect candidate for the brand!
Contemporary New Launches
In 2017, Barbour launched a the Barbour Way of Life Campaign which did really well on Social Media with people sharing their #BarbourWayOfLife. In 2018, Barbour took their traditional heritage look and gave it a modern twist with the launch of their Barbour Beacon collection in the UK.
Re-Loved
Something us at Go Thrift really rate Barbour for doing as a brand is starting their Re-Loved scheme in 2019, where Barbour customers can return their old Barbours to be repaired in exchange for a voucher to get a new Barbour and then once the old Barbours have been repaired and reworked, they are resold! We love a bit of circular fashion. Another creative idea they also rolled out in the same year was their customisation service, where customers are essentially able to design their own jackets!
In August 2020, Barbour teamed up with Selfridges as a part of their Earth Project, in which an Electric Defender with a Tesla engine customised by ECC Motors with tartan and quilt lined seats and large wax pockets on the back seats, was displayed in the Oxford Street store. Selfridges also started selling a collection of Re-Loved jackets with special yellow Selfridges buttons on. The following month the first Wax for Life station was launched in Selfridges, Oxford Street, containing a rewaxing area and selling personalisations to jackets, Re-Loved jackets, Barbour Gold Standard and of course the classics.
In August 2021, Barbour celebrated its Re-Waxing Centenary with British Vogue by hosting a competition for the best Re-Loved Barbour design. The winner was chosen by Dame Margaret and Helen Barbour, along with a few other people from Vogue and Selfridges. The winner was Victoria Perry with her design “I’m Frilled For You.” They also did a Re-Loved collaboration with House of Hackney where Barbour used offcuts of their materials for making their Re-loved jackets. All of this led to them winning the “Best Circularity Award” at The Drapers Sustainability Awards in April 2022!
