The Story Of The Burberry Mac - Sabotage Times

The Story Of The Burberry Mac

The Mac named after Charles Macintosh, is a fashion staple which rocketed to fame by Thomas Burberry and Co during World War One. With all this wet weather, now's the time to pick one up.
Avatar:
Author:
Publish date:
Social count:
34
The Mac named after Charles Macintosh, is a fashion staple which rocketed to fame by Thomas Burberry and Co during World War One. With all this wet weather, now's the time to pick one up.

The Mac Daddy - Caine as Palmer

undefined
undefined

A hardy perennial perfectly suited to the British climate, the ‘Mac’ is named after Charles Macintosh who, in 1823 patented a method for bonding rubber between two layers of fabric. It wasn't until World War One however that the item really came into it’s own.

With government demands for an all weather coat to protect our damp armed forces, Thomas Burberry and Co. created the single breasted ‘Mac’ for the cannon fodder at the front, and the now ubiquitous double breasted trench coat for the officer at the back. Later popularized by Humphrey Bogart and all chaps investigative, the Trench sold millions the world over only to be outshone in the sixties by the single breasted, fly fronted, raglan sleeve  (once known as an ‘oil slicker’) variety sans belt.

The mac was the chosen rain wear of  Michael Caine in the The Ipcress File, Yves St Laurent and our very own Harold Wilson, and still today there is no outer garment more hip than the classic single breasted fly fronted raglan sleeve Mac, the finest examples of which are produced by Aquascutum, Hackett (the Livingstone) and the Mark Marengo on Savile Row.