J. Barbour & Sons

J. Barbour & Sons Ltd.

Type	Private
Industry	Retail, Clothing Manufacturing
Founded	South Shields, England (1894 (1894))
Founder	John Barbour
Headquarters	Simonside, South Shields, United Kingdom
Number of locations	30+ retail stores
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Margaret Barbour, Chairman Steve Buck, Managing Director Helen Barbour, Vice Chair
Products	Bedale Jacket Beaufort Jacket A7 Barbour International Jacket
Services	Repair, reproofing
Website	www.barbour.com

J. Barbour & Sons Ltd. is an English luxury fashion brand founded by John Barbour in 1894, that designs, manufactures and markets weatherproofed outerwear, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes and accessories for men, women and children under the Barbour brand. Founded in South Shields, England, as an importer of oil cloth, J. Barbour and Sons Ltd. has become well known for its waxed cotton jackets which are a common element of British country clothing. The company's waxed cotton jackets are so well known that some people refer to any waxed cotton jacket as a "Barbour jacket", irrespective of manufacturer. J. Barbour and Sons Ltd. holds royal warrant to supply "waterproof and protective clothing" from Queen Elizabeth II in 1974, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1982, and Charles, Prince of Wales in 1987. Since 2004, Lord James Percy has been a brand ambassador involved in the design and marketing of the company's shooting clothing. The Household Cavalry Polo Team and the E. J. Churchill Shooting range are Barbours' other brand ambassadors. Since July 2016, Scottish actor Sam Heughan is Barbour's First Global Brand Ambassador.

John Barbour, a native of Galloway, Scotland, founded J. Barbour and Sons Ltd. in South Shields, England, in 1894 as an importer of oil-cloth. John's grandson Duncan, a keen motorcyclist, would also take the company in that direction during his tenure as Barbour became the originator of waxed cotton motorcycling suits and jackets.

The headquarters for J. Barbour and Sons Ltd. at the time of its foundation was located at 5 Market Place, South Shields. The company moved the headquarters to Wimbledon in 1916, then returned to Simonside, South Shields, in 1981.