HOW TO IDENTIFY BURBERRY
Heritage British brand Burberry was founded in 1856 by Thomas Burberry – and although the brands image has seen its ups and downs – it has been synonymous with the best of British Luxury for over a century. Burberry jackets and Burberry trench coats are highly sought after in second-hand marketplaces – as such they are frequently counterfeited. In this guide, we identify some helpful pointers to help you identify real Burberry clothing.
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE YEAR AND SEASON FOR BURBERRY
It’s useful to know that the Burberry brand has undergone several re-brandings in its history – and therefore Burberry Labels and Burberry Tags have also undergone changes.
Burberry has been known as Burberrys for much of the brands life. Pre-1999 Burberry labels featured the older ‘Burberrys’ branding on neck tags and labels rather than the modern shortened version.
Pre-1999 labels, care labels and neck tags may feature the tagline of: Burberrys, Burberrys of London, Burberrys Made In England, or Burberrys Paris London New York – even Burberrys France.
Pre 1990 the Burberrys logo featured single apostrophes around the name. If you have a piece with an apostrophised ‘Burberrys’ brand name on the neck tag or labels it's likely pre-1990.
A Burberry piece with Burberry London, Burberry Brit or Burberry Prorsum on the label will be pre 2015. These lines require more
HOW TO IDENTIFY BURBERRY LINES
BURBERRY PRORSUM
Burberry Prorsum was the name given to Burberry’s mainline runway line. In 2015 it was consolidated along with Burberry London (Burberry’s core line), Burberry Brit (Burberry’s casual everyday wear line) and Burberry Sport under the Burberry name. Burberry Prorsum has since been reborn to some extent - with Daniel Lee’s reinvention of the brand, and the bringing back of the Prorsum equestrian knight logo from 1901, in 2023.
The Burberry Prorsum runway line ran from 1998 under Roberto Menichetti until 2001. Then under Christopher Bailey till 2013. Although many Burberry Garments feature the word Prorsum (on the equestrian knight logo), these are not part of the Burberry Prorsum mainline runway line. The labels of the runway line are black or very dark blue with only the Burberry name visible. A simplified knight logo is sometimes present, as are 'Prorsum' or 'Established 1856' . The embroidery is often the same colour as the label and so barely visible. The embroidery can also be gold.
Burberry Prorsum labels and neck tags with the simplified equestrian knight logo indicate that the piece was designed by Roberto Menichetti. To identify the year and season check runway imagery from Vogue runway or Firstview between the years of 1998 and 2001. The more detailed equestrian knight logo on Burberry Prorsum Logo's indicates that the piece was designed by Christopher Bailey. The same method for identifying the year and season can be applied for the years 2001 to 2015.
BURBERY LONDON
Burberry London was Burberry’s luxury ready to wear line of brand classics - like the trench coat and checked scarves.
BURBERRY BRIT
Burberry Brit was Burberry's lower cost casual wear line with a youth focus. Christopher Bailey described the Burberry Brit line as "a little bit dishevelled and distinctively British".
THOMAS BURBERRY LINE
Originally launched in 1988, the Thomas Burberry Line took a two year break between 2001 and 2003. It was reintroduced to the Uk under Christopher Bailey in August 2003. The Thomas Burberry line was targeted at 16 - 30 year old women and men - with up to a 40% price reduction from the mainline. The Thomas Burberry line can be identified by its flag logo design displaying the birth year of Thomas Burberry - 1835. Clothing from the Thomas Burberry Line doesn’t include the plaid fabric designs we might typically associate with Burberry. Plaid was reserved exclusively for the brands Burberry Prorusm and Burberry London lines in the Uk.
BURBERRY BLUE LABEL
Burberry Blue Label was a sublime devised in 1996 for the target market of young Japanese women. It was licensed to Sanyo Shokai Ltd until 2015 when Burberry took over operations. Due to the prolific counterfeit culture prevalent in Japan, Burberry Blue Label is highly faked.
BURBERRY BLACK LABEL
Burberry Black Label was the brother to Burberry Blue Label - targeted at a younger demographic of Japanese men interested in Burberry clothing. Both Burberry Blue Label and Burberry Black Label were non-luxury.
HOW TO SPOT FAKE BURBERRY
- Garments with poor quality embroidery on their labels should be avoided - Burberry is a luxury brand after all, and quality has always been important to them.
- Labels with more than one sub line cited are a marker of a fake, as are labels with typefaces borrowed from other lines. For example, Burberry Blue Label only ever used the Sans-Serif typeface, so garments with labels in serif should be avoided.
- If the check on separate panels of a Burberry garment isn't pattern matched it's likely fake.
- The finishing touches of a Burberry garment can help to determine its authenticity. A garment with messily overlocked seams is likely fake. If a Burberry piece isn't lined, the seams will usually be flat felled or french.
