# Where Does the Trench Coat Name Come From?
The trench coat carries its name openly — no mystery, no marketing invention. It came directly from the trenches of World War I, where British Army officers wore it in the mud and rain of the Western Front. A garment born from necessity, not aesthetics. That's exactly why it's still here.
How Did the Trench Coat Begin?
The story starts in the 1820s with Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh and Thomas Hancock, who developed rubberized waterproof coats — affectionately called "macks." They worked against rain. But they were heavy, airless, and unpleasant to wear for any length of time.
Functional, but barely.
Who Invented the Modern Waterproof Fabric?
In 1853, John Emary refined the waterproof fabric and renamed his company Aquascutum — from the Latin for "water shield." Aquascutum supplied officers during the Crimean War, and the coat began its military career in earnest.
Then in 1879, Thomas Burberry changed the game with gabardine: a twill weave where individual fibres are coated before weaving, not after. The result was waterproof and breathable — a genuine technical breakthrough. Polar explorers and aviators adopted it quickly. It was a fabric built for people who actually needed it to work.
When Did It Get the Name "Trench Coat"?
During World War I (1914–1918), British Army officers stationed in the trenches adopted the coat at scale. The soldiers named it. The first recorded appearance of the term in print was in a 1916 tailoring trade journal — which means it was already in common use by then.
The wartime version gained its now-iconic features for purely practical reasons: D-rings for attaching equipment, epaulettes for displaying rank, a gun flap for shooting in the rain, a storm shield across the back. Every detail had a job to do.
What Happened After the War?
Officers brought their coats home. The garment moved from the Western Front to civilian wardrobes without losing its authority. Its association with spies and detectives came later — largely through fiction, then amplified by Hollywood.
Humphrey Bogart in *Casablanca*. Audrey Hepburn in *Breakfast at Tiffany's*. The trench coat became a symbol of a certain kind of composure — someone who moves through the world without being disrupted by it.
One footnote worth knowing: in the 1990s, Burberry ran a campaign with the slogan "Trench Fever." Trench fever was, in reality, a louse-borne disease that killed soldiers in the trenches during WWI. Marketing has always had a complicated relationship with history.
What Maison Guida Makes
We've been thinking about the trench coat for a long time. Not as a heritage piece to reference, but as a problem to solve: how do you make something waterproof, genuinely well-made, and designed to last more than two seasons?
Our answer is the [Bella Trench Coat](/products/bella-trench-coat) — made from 100% eco-recycled Italian polyester, PFC-PFAS free, sourced from Dafri Srl in Italy. Oversized silhouette, tailored front buttons, self-tie belt, adjustable cuffs. Handmade one at a time in our atelier at Piazza Vittorio, Turin. €249.
If you want something with more texture, the [Bella Street Trench](/products/bella-street-trench-coat) combines the same waterproof technical polyester with soft Italian denim — the same oversized cut, a different character. Currently available in beige. Also €249.
Both are designed to be worn for years. That was the point of the original, too.
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