The Burberry Check Was Designed Never to Be Seen

Burberry closes London Fashion Week tonight. Its check — a camel tartan crossed with black, white and red — was introduced in the 1920s as a lining for rainwear, visible only when a coat was opened. By the 1960s customers were asking for it by name, and in 1967, by the company's own account, a buyer in its Paris store removed the lining from a coat to wrap luggage and cover an umbrella for a presentation to the British ambassador: the first check accessory. The pattern then spread across umbrellas, scarves, bags and, through 23 licensees worldwide, a vast range of goods. Because the check is woven rather than printed, it was easy to counterfeit, and by the early 2000s its ubiquity in Britain, on genuine and fake products alike, had damaged its standing as a luxury signal. From 2004 Burberry cut the check back to a small fraction of its range and bought back its licences; for the next fifteen years it appeared mainly as a lining or a scarf. Since 2022, chief creative officer Daniel Lee has been reintroducing it on the outside of garments. #Burberry #LFW #FashionHistory #ModeALoui #shorts