Burberry Marks 170 Years with Free Exhibition at the V&A: “The Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon”

Today, Monday September 21, 2026, London opens the free exhibition “The Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon”, a collaboration between the British fashion house Burberry and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). The exhibition is staged at the Prince Consort Gallery at V&A South Kensington and will remain open to the public until January 3, 2027.

The exhibition marks the 170th anniversary of Burberry’s founding and tells the story of the brand’s most iconic garment — the trench coat. It all began in 1879, when Thomas Burberry invented cotton gabardine, a water-resistant fabric that gave shape to a light, practical and elegant coat.

The trench coat was born as functional clothing for officers and quickly became an essential of civilian wardrobes too, turning over the decades into a symbol of British style.

The exhibition unfolds in three sections: “Invention”, dedicated to the birth of gabardine; “Craft”, which reveals the details of the coat’s construction — the hand-finished collar, the famous “House Check” lining, the storm flap and the detachable throat latch; and “Creativity”, which covers the last 25 years of the runway with 19 looks selected from creative directors Daniel Lee and Christopher Bailey.

The exhibition also presents rare materials from the Burberry Archive and the V&A’s collection, including early-20th-century catalogues and designer Hardy Amies’s personal trench coat.

The exhibition is part of a multi-year partnership between Burberry and the V&A, which will culminate in the opening of The Burberry Gallery in autumn 2028. Entry to the exhibition is free.

Source: Burberry / Hypebeast