The invention of the Trench Coat is claimed by two British clothing companies – Burberry, the fashion house in London who invented gabardine fabric in 1879, and a company called Aquascutum, who claimed to have invented their own waterproof and breathable fabric back in the 1850’s.
In 1901 Burberry submitted a design for an Army officer’s coat to the UK War Office, which was accepted, however it wasn’t until the First World War that a modified version of the coat came out, designed to have shoulder straps for insignia, and D-rings which were used for attaching equipment such as map cases and swords. This coat then became known as the Trench Coat and over 100 years on is still almost identical in design to the Trench Coat worn by Officers in the trenches of World War One.
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