Burberry, Mulberry, Aquascutum – all luxury British brands
that haven’t always been in fashion favour yet now have a place
amongst the most coveted high-end fashion labels on the planet.
Something similar has been happening to another brand that’s as
British as bulldogs and wet weather.
What’s so intriguing about this particular label’s ascension into the upper echelons of cool
is that they’ve pulled it off without even trying.
Almost without even knowing.
No relaunch, rebrand or restructure.
Barbour for men and women
Barbour women's International Polarquilt jacket £138.99. Click to buy now.
Barbour didn’t spot one of its wax jackets on a super-cool young thing
in Dalstonand think let’s jump on this immediately and hire an Italian designer
to sex up the collection and thrust hundreds of freebies at more super-cool
young things (but this time from Celebrity Land) and see where this goes.
Instead it has been quietly getting on with streamlining its silhouettes
and ramping up its technical credentials to produce a range of closer fitting
and better looking coats and jackets for a new generation who want
proper fashionwith function. And that all important ‘heritage’.
(Marketing men take note: THAT you cannot buy.)
Now there may be a newer breed of Barbour clothing on the scene
but it’s still the original styles that pack the biggest style punch.
Alexa Chung in a vintage Barbour jacket
And according to Vogue’s Emma Elwick – the older the better.
She wore a particularly voluminous exemplar over a sequined vest and
hot pants when she was DJ-ing at Glastonbury.
And we think that’s the key to Barbour’s re-newed popularity.
They’re a badge of honour and show that you’re into your music
and rough it at festivals up and down the country while still looking chic.
A Barbour jacket is the ideal partner in crime to Hunter wellies.
Daisy Lowe and Lily Donaldson at Glastonbury.
Festivals are no longer only for kids and hippies, they’re a veritable fashion parade
for the biggest players in the industry. No longer all about the music,
the UK festivals in particular have got more to do with whose wearing what
as opposed to whose playing after whom. And the who’s who of the fashion world just love
getting down and dirty in their Barbour jackets.
Alexandra and Theodora Richards do festival glamour at Glastonbury
“It probably started off among young boys, who are also working flat caps
with their skinny jeans and un-named plimsoles. It’s the Hackney Farmers uniform,”
says Elwick, “but girls are getting in on it too, although the wax means the jackets
become a bit smelly to be too mainstream.”
Gant wool checked hat £31.99. Click to buy now.
Lily Allen wears a Barbour wax jacket
Not a problem as the new Barbour ranges have a lot more going for them than the
old-school wax pieces. Alexa Chung, Lily Allen, Kelly Osborne and Geldofs Peaches and Pixie
have all been seen wearing a host of Barbour jackets over pretty party dresses.
Peaches Geldof and Lily allen in their Barbour jackets
Other glamorous fans of the country-chic look include Gela Nash-Taylor, co-creative
director of Juicy Couture who divides her time between homes in LA
and a stunning Elizabethan manor house in Wiltshire.
Gela Nash-Taylor and husband
“The dressing up at Wraxall is part of my fantasy life. I dress extra English
when I’m here. At night, I love to wear something long. For a walk outside in the winter,
I wear a pair of Gucci stretch pants, a ruffled pale-yellow cashmere sweater,
a Barbour, and a piece of fur. I even wear Wellies now. I love Wellies—
the real ones: green Hunters. I didn’t ‘get’ them before,
so I tried to spray paint them and make them more edgy, more fashion,
but now I know they should just be green.”
Gela Nash-Taylor and friends (not a Juicy velour tracksuit in sight)
While we’re on the subject of Juicy Couture I couldn’t resist sneaking in a
picture of the gorgeous baby Fluffy bag.
How cute?
Juicy Couture studded velour baby fluffy bag £169.95. Click to buy now.
We at Jules B hold Barbour very close to our Northern hearts.
We were selling Barbour when the only people wearing them were
genuine hunts-folk. Why? Because they’re authentic, beautifully made
and part of the history of this little corner of the world. A trip to the Barbour factory
in South Shields (and the brilliant outlet store) is a rite of passage
for anyone from the North East. The fact that Barbour is hot now is merely a bonus.
Far superior to Belstaff the Italian outerwear brand
and what’s more patriotic in these uncertain times than flying the flag for a
distinctly British brand? To read more about the history of Barbour and more
entertaining rural rhetoric go their official site.
Barbour official site
A new flagship store on the (also recently resurrected) Carnaby Street in London
plus appearing on the rails at Dover Street Market equals you’reofficially going places.
If more proof were needed, an official stamp of approval from Lisa Armstrong
Fashion Editor at The Times surely seals the deal.
After attending a brain-storming dinner with various other editors,
buyers and industry players to discuss the future of ‘heritage’ fashion brands,
Armstrong waxed lyrical about Barbour in particular.
Dover Street Market. 17-18 Dover St London, W1S 4LT
“The Barbour revival is a triumph of street style over marketing,
substance over flash, customisation over mass logos.
It couldn’t be more comforting in a recession
— perhaps that’s why it took many of us at that dinner back to the glory days
of what was happening in British fashion in the early 80s.
A little bit ugly, quite whiffy, 100 per cent British.
Let’s hope it doesn’t change.”
Here here.
