This Christmas, Burberry celebrate 160th anniversary, with the story of Thomas Burberry – pioneer, inventor, innovator, and the man behind the iconic trench coat.
The film 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. Articulated by Asif Kapadia, a director and best actors Domhnall Gleeson, Sienna Miller, Dominic West and Lily James.
Domhnall Gleeson stars as Burberry founder Thomas Burberry. Sienna Miller stars as Thomas’s fictional first love.
Dominic West plays Sir Ernest Shackleton, the pioneering polar explorer who wore Burberry gabardine for three Antarctic expeditions. Lily James stars as pilot Betty Dawson, a fictionalised character inspired by the real life achievements of Betty Kirby- Green, who broke the world record in 1937 for a return flight from England to Cape Town in an aeroplane named ‘The Burberry’.
Real life moments re-enacted in the film include Thomas’s invention of the weatherproof fabric gabardine, dressing the military, and outfitting polar explorers and pilots.
Shot primarily at Shirburn Castle in Oxfordshire, the location served as the backdrop for the faithfully recreated First World War trenches, and Thomas’s workshop inspired by materials in the Burberry Archive. Replica gabardine tents, made at Burberry’s Castleford factory in Yorkshire, were created for the exploration scenes.
