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Dame Margaret Barbour to be honoured at The Fashion Awards

Lauretta Roberts
03 September 2024

Dame Margaret Barbour, who has led the British outwear brand the bears her family name for 50 years, will be honoured with a Special Recognition Award at The Fashion Awards in December. 

The Fashion Awards are the principal fundraising activity for the British Fashion Council's BFC Foundation and will take place this year at the Royal Albert Hall on 2 December with Pandora as the main partner.

Dame Margaret became chairman of Barbour in 1973, having joined the board in 1968 following the death of her husband John, and has led the historic company through some of its most exciting times as it became a global name, best known for its iconic waxed jackets.

barbour

Barbour's iconic designs

In the 1980s, she designed the three jackets that made Barbour a household name, the Bedale, the Beaufort and the Border. Today, they remain in the range and continue to be bestsellers.

Barbour was founded in 1894 in South Shields and in everything she has done at the company, Dame Margaret has always ensured that it remains true to John Barbour’s founding principles of quality, durability, attention to detail and being fit for purpose.

Dame Margaret Barbour

Over the course of her career, Dame Margaret has used her position and platform to consistently give back, launching multiple charitable initiatives. In 1988, Dame Margaret founded The Barbour Trust, now called Foundation to support charities and important causes, mainly in the North East of England. To date, the Foundation has donated over £29m to charitable causes. During the pandemic, she turned over the factory in South Shields to make PPE for North East NHS Trusts to help the fight against COVID-19.

Barbour Ganni

Barbour X Ganni Re-Loved Beadnell Jacket

She has continued to innovate the brand through industry leading partnerships with Erdem, Ganni and Gucci Continuum. She is also a fierce advocate for more sustainable fashion, implementing circular practices across the brand under the umbrella name, Wax for Life, offering re-waxing and repairs and extending the lives of wax jackets through Barbour Re-Loved. For Autumn Winter 24, she has overseen the launch of Quilt for Life, a new service in the UK to repair and continue the life of quilted jackets.

The then HRH Prince Charles has a go at rewaxing a Barbour jacket with Dame Margaret watching on in 2021

Speaking of the honour, Dame Margaret said: “I am absolutely thrilled to receive this Special Recognition Award from the BFC and to be honoured in this way at The Fashion Awards. Barbour means so much to me – I took over the company in the most difficult of circumstances and as we celebrate our 130th anniversary this year, I think my late husband John would be very proud of how far the company has come and what I have achieved in making Barbour the recognised global lifestyle brand it is today. This Award, however, would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of all of my management team and staffwho have contributed so much to our success.”

British Fashion Council CEO Caroline Rush said: “We are delighted to honour Dame Margaret Barbour with a Special Recognition Award for her remarkable contributions to the fashion industry and continued commitment to British excellence and innovation in the brand’s 130th year. Over the course of her illustrious career, Dame Margaret has championed creativity and positioned Barbour as a cultural leader, always staying true to the brand’s renowned craftsmanship and maintaining a clear focus on sustainability and giving back through charitable initiatives. We look forward to celebrating with her in December.”

Main image: Dame Margaret Barbour with the then HRH The Prince of Wales in 2021 at the opening of the "Wax for Life Workshop".


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