There are trench coats. And then there are trench coats made by those who built them for war.
At Private White V.C., we don’t just reinterpret rainwear, we helped to invent it. From our Manchester factory, a building that’s stood since 1853, we have been cutting and sewing trenches for over a century, including thousands issued to Allied Forces during the Second World War.
In particular, British despatch riders relied on waterproof macs and long-line coats like ours to navigate hostile terrain, enduring the worst of weather to deliver critical battlefield intelligence.
The Despatch Rider’s Trench is both homage and evolution, a modern masterpiece born of military necessity and refined with British precision. This is not just a nod to the past, but the result of more than 100 years spent obsessing over outerwear in the city that clothed the world.
Manchester was once the epicentre of the global cotton trade, known as ‘Cottonopolis’ for its industrial might and relentless innovation. It also earned a reputation for unrelenting rain. That marriage of cotton and climate fuelled the development of true performance rainwear, and no garment embodies that more completely than the trench coat.
The fabric alone sets this trench apart. Cut from 100% cotton Ventile®, it’s the most advanced natural fabric in the world, developed by British scientists during WWII to help save RAF pilots who crash-landed at sea. When exposed to water, the fibres swell to form an impenetrable barrier, all without membranes, or synthetic fibres.
We go further, every seam is sealed with our signature copper tape, making it fully waterproof, windproof, breathable, and silent in motion. The silhouette is unmistakably classic, but every element is elevated.
The Despatch Rider’s Trench carries its military heritage in features adapted from service wear: gun flaps and a back saddle from military-issue rainwear, copper D-rings and a belt inspired by wartime equipment loops, and a Vandyke-stitched collar reinforced and raised to stand at attention.
Deep welt pockets, lined in cashmere, offer warmth, shelter, and secure carriage, while the full-length cut is long, commanding, and built to shield.
Inside, a button-out liner crafted from wool-cashmere by Kynoch of Scotland (weavers since 1788) adds structure and insulation. The striped pattern respectfully references Private Jack White’s original regimental blanket, issued to him in 1916 before he joined the Gallipoli campaign. It’s these flourishes, quiet, considered, and rooted in truth, that set our trench apart.
We’ve studied the originals, the pieces in our own archives, and the trench coats immortalised by Bogart, Delon, O’Toole, and Ford in Blade Runner. All made in the same Manchester factory that’s stood for over a century. That tradition of trench coat mastery has never left the building.
This is the culmination of generations, not just of tailoring, but of endurance. A lineage of craftsmanship, military grit, and northern pride, underpinned by a commitment to British manufacturing and true vertical integration. Still standing.
Still leading. Like the city that made it.
Still leading. Like the city that made it.
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