The Barbour Archive is a collection of iconic clothing dating back to J. Barbour and Sons’ inception in 1894.

What started of as an idea from our creative director, turned into an elegant labour of love for our busy studio. Originally conceived as one stand alone film, the project took almost 6 months of full time work and a mighty team to complete, all resulting an epilogue of 12 films dedicated to the Archive room at Barbour House.

In order to evoke years of heritage that the brand we wanted to fully immerse ourselves in it. The first few weeks of the project saw us visit stores in London, spend hours in the Archive room, talk intimately and listen to the incredible stories of designers, factory workers and archivists who have lived the brand for decades.

Working through beautiful old catalogues with the digital team at Barbour, all these experiences instilled a deep knowledge and respect for J Barbour & Sons in our project team, this exudes from every nuance of project, from our studio shoot, graphic treatment, music production through to the final films.

Creating an experience truly befitting three Royal warrant’s with a history Spanning over 120 years has to be one of our biggest challenges but ultimately one of our proudest moments.

The clasp fastening Beacon Thornproof coat appeared two years after Barbour first introduced ‘Thornproof’ fabric in 1930. In 1933 it was listed as the Short Coat and it remained in the range until it was removed due to war rationing in 1941. It reappeared in 1946 and was back on sale a year later as the Three Quarter Coat until it was updated in 1958/9.

There were two versions of the Beacon Thornproof when it was introduced in 1930, the Beacon Single Breasted Coat and a Riding ‘Slicker’ style with a storm-fly front. In 1931, following what must have been a very encouraging reception of the New Beaconproofs, Malcolm Barbour made great play of the ‘N.Z.’ fabric and Beacon N.Z. Thornproof. NZ refers to New Zealand where this type of tough, oiled cotton fabric was originally used.