BURBERRY ON ICE: Burberry is deep-diving into the archives once again, recreating the weatherproof gabardine clothing it created for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914 polar expedition, the subject of a new National Geographic documentary film.
The film, “Endurance,” spotlights Shackleton’s coast-to-coast expedition across Antarctica, during which his wooden ship Endurance became trapped in packed mounds of ice, and later sank.
Shackleton and his 27 Burberry-clad crew lived aboard the stranded ship for 10 months before it started to go down, and they were forced to set up camp on the ice.
Burberry created 10 replica garments for the film, which is directed by award-winning filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and Natalie Hewit.
Two of the gabardine outfits are on display at the brand’s Regent Street store until Oct. 31, and feature a lightweight anorak, trousers and hood.
They were designed to enable movement, and would have been worn in windy and snowy conditions with layers of knitwear beneath. In a twist, they are green, rather than khaki, a color that was thought to be soothing for the eyes in snowy landscapes, according to Burberry.
A closeup of the green gabardine clothing that Sir Ernest Shackleton wore for his ill-fated trip across Antarctica.
The film’s producer Ruth Johnston said she called Burberry soon after production began “as they’re integral to this story. Shackleton’s men were wearing Thomas Burberry’s material, gabardine, and they wouldn’t have survived without it.”
She added: “Burberry agreed to make outfits from the original pattern and material for our recreations. In below-freezing temperatures in Iceland, the mountain guides who played the expedition crew were amazed at how well the Burberry [material] worked.”
In addition to the Endurance expedition, Shackleton wore Burberry gabardine for two other Antarctic adventures. During the Nimrod Expedition in 1907-1909, he used a sheet of Burberry gabardine to protect the engine of his motor car from freezing over.
The new Burberry store in New York with archive garments, and their stories, on display.
George Chinsee/WWD
Shackleton was a big fan of Burberry, writing that he was able to save a man’s life by swaddling him in “Burberry wind-clothing. I have therefore every confidence in recommending [Burberry] goods to explorers and to the general public.”
Burberry’s Shackleton designs are part of a wider display of archive outerwear pieces in key stores. Other designs include the Tielocken coat (a predecessor to the trench) and the Puttee motoring coat.
Burberry’s new chief executive Joshua Schulman said Burberry “was founded with a clear purpose: to protect people from the weather. Iconic outerwear is at the heart of our brand.”