Burberry Check Swim is in High Demand Again—Don’t Pay Full Price
- Sheterria Sparks
- Jul 2, 2025
- 3 min read
When an 80-year-old Thomas Burberry retired in 1917 after leading the brand he’d poured his life into for 60 years, he knew he’d left it in good hands by keeping it in the family. Thomas’ two sons took one of the strongest brands in England and made it one of the strongest brands in the world. After listing Burberry on the London Stock Exchange in 1920, the pair knew they needed to stand out while remaining timeless.
“Burberry was supposed to be a high end, classic brand….they couldn’t put the logo everywhere like a Supreme box logo“ as explained in a Threaducation video, the Burberry brothers “needed something a bit more subtle and that led them to the now iconic Burberry check” (Threaducation, 2023). The varying sizes of the stripes and the subtle red amongst the dominant tan, black, and white stood apart from traditional plaid used by other designers. For several decades, the check lining helped distinguish the iconic trench coat that Thomas created during WWI for English soldiers stay dry while hiding in trenches from the inspired duplicates that began to scatter the world leading up to present day.
The popularity of the Burberry check wasn't overnight. It wasn’t until 1968 in a small Burberry store in London where store associate, Jacqueline Dillemman was tasked with dressing the store mannequins and decided to cut the iconic lining of one of the trench coats to style an umbrella—thus leading to millions of weather resistant Burberry accessories that we see today. From umbrellas, to scarves, to hats—this check was going places.
Fast forward to Kate Moss’ Spring 2000 Burberry Swim campaign that immediately broke the fashion world, pre-internet (the internet that could show you 10 fashion campaigns in 3 minutes at least) and it took the iconic print to places never before seen. Instead of its dreary days in London, two piece and one piece clad women trotted their Burberry suits to lake house, yachts, and beach vacations. Most notably, Beyoncé Knowles, In an empty mansion pool during the music video for "’03 Bonnie and Clyde" with Jay-Z. In an article for Vogue, editor Kristina Rutkowski, cites Knowles as a key player in “catapulting [Burberry bikinis] to status symbol-sphere in the early aughts” along with another revival 17 years later as Irina Shayk “was snapped sunbathing in an archival printed set on vacation in 2019” (Vogue Digital, 2025)
So what about now? Burberry’s latest swim campaign this past April saw more traction than several of their instagram post combined, racking over three hundred thousand likes as of July. While the suits haven’t changed, the angle of their casting team did. It may have been easy to cast an under-25 model as was done with Moss back in 2000 for that fresh, innocent feel. But instead, they brought on silver haired Patricia, clad with the iconic strapless one piece sending a suble wave off camera with a breath of class, charm, and lifelong joy with the caption “Wish You Were Her” and it’s safe to say we do.
When paying for a Burberry swimsuit, you're paying for heritage, legacy, and of course, the opportunity to speak a universal language in the world of fashion lovers. Not everyone can--or wants to--fork over $600 for such a delicious treat though, since it is nylon after all. Indulge in the generosity from Burberry collectors looking to give a piece of their closet on Vestiare Collective for under $300 below:
Traditional Burberry Bikinis:
Colored Burberry Bikinis:
Burberry One Piece Swim:
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