Barbour International
Founded 1894 the house; 1936 the International line · South Shields, England · John Barbour; the International, Duncan Barbour
Barbour has been making waxed jackets since 1894 for people who work outdoors in the north-east of England. **Barbour International is its motorcycling line**, born in 1936, and the jacket Steve McQueen wore at the Scottish Six Days of 1964 comes from it.
History
John Barbour, a Scot settled in the port of South Shields, began in 1894 selling waxed clothing to fishermen and sailors on the Tyne. The house made its name on waxed cotton — waterproof, repairable and with a smell of its own — and holds three royal warrants. In 1936 his grandson Duncan Barbour, a competition motorcyclist, created the International line: the jacket with a diagonal zip, a belt and a slanted chest pocket for the route map. For decades it was the uniform of British trials, and in 1964 Steve McQueen wore it at the ISDT in Scotland with the American team. The house is still family-owned and still re-waxes old jackets at its factory.
Iconic models
International Jacket (1936)
Diagonal zip, belt and map pocket. McQueen's jacket.
Bedale (1980)
From the classic line: the short waxed jacket, made for riding.
Beaufort (1983)
Longer than the Bedale, with a rear game pocket for shooting.
Worth knowing
The South Shields factory still re-waxes jackets customers send in, some of them forty years old. It is one of the very few clothing houses whose after-sales service consists of not selling you a new one.
Barbour International at Reserva de Marcha
See all 87 in the catalogue →
Barbour Heritage Liddesdale Quilted Jacket Navy MD
Barbour Heritage Liddesdale Quilted Jacket Navy XL
Barbour Men's Sapper Wax Jacket, Olive/Classic, XL
Barbour Men's Ashby Wax Jacket, Olive, XXL
Barbour Men's Beaufort Wax Jacket, Sage, SM (36)
Barbour Men's Ashby Wax Jacket, Olive, L
Barbour Heritage Liddesdale Quilted Jacket Black XL
Barbour BELSAY WAX JACKET LWX0458, Olive, UK 12