CELEBRATING THE TRENCH

Part of the reason Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey has been so successful at the fashion house these past few seasons is that he has helped make the iconic British luxury brand known for something other than their carefully crafted trenches and distinctive tartan patterns on pretty much everything from shoes to hats.

So it’s somewhat ironic that Burberry has just now launched a new website called Art of the Trench (artofthetrench.com), which celebrates the house’s popular trench while also providing a social networking platform.



Burberry has enlisted some of today’s most well-known photographers — of particular note, Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist fame – to take street style photographs of real people from London, Milan, New York, Paris, Berlin, Sao Paulo, and Venice, wearing trench coats. The site's viewers can leave comments about each of the images and can share their favorites via Facebook and Twitter.



British Vogue spoke with Bailey about the new online venture, and the designer remarked that the website celebrates the brand’s iconic trench coat by capturing the emotional connection behind Burberry’s distinctive outerwear heritage.

The designer continued by remarking “everybody has a different story related to their coat or the first time they came into contact with one - I love the idea that people from all over the world can share those stories and images with each other and all the different attitudes and expressions of the Burberry trench coat and the people who wear it.”

While I've personally never been a big trench coat fan, the site is a fun distraction and an interesting look at how such a distinctive article of clothing can be worn in an endless number of ways.