Home Photograph: Sale shop staff, Burberry's

Photograph: Sale shop staff, Burberry's

Object

Photograph

Production date

1993

Object number

1993.107

Physical Description

Black and white photograph of Dioone Allaker, Joanne Gillard and Winifred John working in sale shop of Burberry's.

Associated Organisation

Burberry (Depicted in)

Associated Person

Allaker, Dioone
Sarah Ainslie (Photographer)

Associated Place

Material

photo

Exhibition Label

From the exhibition 'Faces Behind the Fashions: Hackney and the Garment Trade' [15 September 2022-20 February 2023]

British Brands

The famous British clothing brand, Burberry, once operated a large factory in Hackney.

From 1953, the company was based at 29-53 Chatham Place in Hackney Central. Burberry produced luxury clothing and weatherproof outerwear. Their jackets and trench coats were made using gabardine - a tightly woven water-repellent fabric invented by Thomas Burberry in 1879.

By the 1960s, one in every five outerwear piece exported worldwide from Britain was a Burberry garment, with many of these being manufactured in Hackney. By 1991, around 315 people worked in the Burberry factory at Chatham Place.

In 1993, photographer Sarah Ainslie visited Burberry as part of a photo series about women at work in Hackney. The images on display show employees across a range of departments. In some of the photographs, the signature Burberry check fabric can be seen on sewing machines and aprons.

Credit line

© Sarah Ainslie

On display?

No