Barbour was founded in 1894 by Scottish businessman John Barbour in South Shields, North East England, originally supplying oilskins to protect sailors and fishermen from the weather. Malcolm Barbour introduced the company's first mail-order catalogue in 1908, and Duncan Barbour's International motorcycling suit, launched in 1936, was worn by British motorcycle teams into the 1970s. The company holds Royal Warrants from the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II, and the Prince of Wales, granted between 1974 and 1987, and Margaret Barbour designed its signature Bedale and Beaufort waxed jackets in the 1980s. It remains a family business, now in its fifth generation.