The Iconic Burberry Trench Settles Into the V&A

For its 170th anniversary, Burberry is offering a memorable experience at London’s V&A: a free exhibition set up in the Prince Consort Gallery, a space rarely open to the public. « The Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon » opens on September 21, echoing the Burberry show taking place that same week during London Fashion Week, and runs through January 3, 2027. The exhibition traces the history of the iconic trench coat in three parts. It begins with Thomas Burberry’s invention of cotton gabardine in 1879, continues with the coat’s manufacturing details, and closes with a selection of 19 runway silhouettes from the past twenty-five years, designed by Christopher Bailey and Daniel Lee. This collaboration marks the first step in a long-term partnership between the two institutions, which is set to culminate in the opening of a permanent Burberry gallery within the V&A in autumn 2028.