In 1894 John Barbour created J. Barbour & Sons in South Shields, with his two sons Jack and Malcolm Barbour. Today, the brand is a 5 Generation company. 1908, was the year that the first Barbour Catalogue was released. By 1917, 75% of of Barbours sucess was down to the catalogue sales.
Duncan, Malcoms son, designed a Motorcycling range in 1934. This collection became very popular, as most British International Motorcycling Teams wore the Barbour Intrnational Oiled Coton suits, when competing. In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, Barbour created the Ursula suit that was named after the U Class Submarine.
In 1974 Barbour recieved their first Royal Warrant from The Duke Of Edinburgh. In 1980 the iconic black and gold Barbour International badge was created. 1982, was the year that Barbour recieved their second Royal Warrant, this time it was from the Queen.
5 years later , in 1987 Barbour got their third Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales. One year later, the Barbour Trust was founded by Margret Barbour, in which every year she donates 20% of her shares to the charity. Barbour also won the award for Export Achievement by the Queen in 1992, 1994 and 1995. They have win the IPC Shooting product of the year twice in 2005 and 2009. In 2009 Barbour were honoured with
the Best Brand of the Year Award by the Sunday Times.
Barbours History