Burberry Holiday Campaign: The Story of the Man Behind the Brand

Sienna Miller and Domhnall Gleeson star in the short film “The Tale of Thomas Burberry” for the holiday season.

Burberry has released an unusual holiday campaign to kick-off the season that features a look a their founder Thomas Burberry.  This is a serious short film, and there’s no cheeky Cruz Beckham winking and dancing through the holidays.  The short film, entitled, “The Tale of Thomas Burberry” gives viewers glimpses of the Burberry founder’s life and how the brand began as maker of outerwear.  The film features the facts that Burberry made uniforms for the British army in World War I and outfitted Antarctic explorer Shackleton.  Modern day buyers of the Burberry brands may not be aware of this historic heritage. The man who started out with a small shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire grew Burberry into a global brand, creating the trench coat and later, a trademark plaid.

You might recognize some great actors featured in the short film.  Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson plays Thomas Burberry.  Dominic West is featured as the legendary explorer patron Ernest Shackleton.  And the most recognizable players in the film are the actresses featured as Burberry’s lovers– Sienna Miller plays his  fictional first love and Lily James is featured as aviatrix Betty Dawson.

Actress Lily James is featured in the short film as fictional aviatrix Betty Dawson, who wears dramatic red lipstick ( a detail apparently based in fact.)

If you’re like me, you’ll want to learn more about Thomas Burberry after you watch the short film. This year is the 160th’s anniversary of Burberry as a brand, and Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey says, Burberry wanted to tell the story of their founder in “their own words.”

“This Christmas, as we celebrate our 160th anniversary we wanted to tell the story of Thomas Burberry – pioneer, inventor, innovator, and the man behind the iconic trench coat – in our own words. The film we have made is a brief glimpse inspired by his full and extraordinary life, which threaded its way through the history of the twentieth century in all its tumultuous highs and lows. We feel very proud to be sharing The Tale of Thomas Burberry this Christmas – his spirit and his vision are still at the heart of everything we do at Burberry today.”– Christopher Bailey, Burberry Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer

If you watch the short film, you’ll immediately be pulled into the story of how Burberry built his brand by outfitting some of the most important events of the last century with the unique fabric he created called gabardine.  The tough, tightly woven twill fabric became the fabric for the Burberry trench coat–aptly named for its service in World War I in the trenches.  This was a life changing fabric for British soldiers as it kept out the wet of the rain and the winter chill.

“The story of the film is about how an ordinary man brought something extraordinary into the world. Thomas Burberry came up with a fabric called gabardine and it changed a lot of people’s lives. It changed what was possible for some people to do, in terms of going to far off places, places that the human body could not endure without something to protect you. It was a product that could do lots of things, it could help people like Shackleton go to the Antarctic, it could help aviators do incredible flights over long distances – it allowed people to dream and to carry out their dreams, and Thomas Burberry made that happen, ” notes screenwriter Matt Charman.

The film also focuses on Thomas Burberry’s romances, with his fictional first love played by Sienna Miller and later with Lily James appearing as Betty Dawson. Betty Dawson seems to be based on glamorous pilot Betty Kirby-Green, who did indeed fly an airplane sponsored by Burberry.

The story of Thomas Burberry seems ripe for a PBS series like “Downton Abbey” or a feature film.  I’m so glad that Burberry decided to commemorate their founder with this reflection on his history.   Please Burberry, can we have some more?  Watch the short film below and let me know what you think of the “Take of Thomas Burberry.”