Gloverall Heritage | Making Duffle Coats Since 1951

Gloverall is a British outerwear brand founded in London in 1951 by Harold and Freda Morris, its name a contraction of their original wholesale trade in gloves and overalls. They began by selling surplus Royal Navy duffle coats from post-war military stocks, and when the surplus ran out they commissioned new coats to the same pattern. In this way Gloverall brought the Royal Navy's duffle coat to the civilian market, and that commission is where its coat-making began. In 2026, Gloverall reached its 75th anniversary.

1951: gloves, overalls and a warehouse of Navy duffles

Two men in dark overcoats outside a brick building signed as the registered office of H&F Morris and Gloverall.

Post-war London was full of surplus and short of good coats. Harold and Freda Morris, wholesalers of gloves and overalls, took on a consignment of Royal Navy duffle coats and found that demand outpaced supply. Their response set the course of the company. Rather than find a substitute, they commissioned production in London: new coats cut from new cloth to the same military pattern, available to the civilian market.

Gloverall didn't reinvent anything. It made the original accessible.

Where the duffle coat began

The duffle coat takes its name from Duffel, a town in Belgium where thick wool cloth was woven from the 17th century. The British Royal Navy adopted the design during the Second World War for sailors on the Arctic and North Atlantic convoys. Its distinctive toggle-and-loop fastening was a functional solution, not a style choice: simple to operate with gloved hands in extreme cold. We tell the full story, from the cloth to the convoys, in our Journal history of the duffle coat.

The 1950s and 60s: the Monty enters British life

The best-known Gloverall coat carries a nickname from the war. The Original Monty is named after Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, whose habit of wearing one through the war fixed the duffle coat in the British public's mind. In 1957, the racing driver Tony Brooks was photographed in a Gloverall Monty at the Monaco Grand Prix, alongside Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn.

Three men in duffle coats and overcoats walking at a motor racing circuit in the 1950s.

Through the 1950s and 60s the duffle coat became a fixture of British life, worn by students, musicians, CND marchers and schoolchildren. When Michael Bond needed an instantly recognisable coat for Paddington Bear in 1958, he chose a duffle coat. That cultural familiarity never really went away.

1962 and 1965: a factory in Northamptonshire and coats for export

By 1962, demand had grown enough for Gloverall to open its own factory in Northamptonshire, the company's manufacturing home for a formative stretch of its history. By 1965, Gloverall was exporting coats to Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Duffle coats with Union Jack swing tags hang on overhead rails while machinists work at sewing machines in a Gloverall factory.

1980 and 1984: the Winter Olympics

A Gloverall exhibition stand lettered Win with Gloverall, with mannequins in duffle coats and a poster for the XIII Olympic Winter Games.

Gloverall duffle coats outfitted the British team at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and were worn again in 1984 by Torvill and Dean.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in white duffle coats, fur hats and red and black scarves.

The 1990s: Britpop and a record sleeve

The Britpop years brought the duffle coat back into the fashion press and onto the streets without it ever feeling like nostalgia. The high-water mark came in 1995, when the Morris Duffle Coat, named for the founding family, appeared on the cover of Oasis's Roll With It. It is still in the range today.

The Oasis Roll With It sleeve, with the band on a beach in front of a pier and one member standing in the Morris Duffle Coat.

2019: the Princess Royal returns

The Princess Royal first visited Gloverall in 1986. She returned in 2019 to meet the team and see the range at Gloverall's London offices in Bloomsbury.

The Princess Royal looks at a camel duffle coat held up by a member of the Gloverall team during her 2019 visit.

2021: 70 years

Gloverall marked its 70th anniversary in 2021 with a limited-edition collection based on three of its best-known styles: the Monty, the Morris and the Churchill.

A man in a black duffle coat with wooden toggles on rope loops, standing in front of a folding metal gate.

2024: Doctor Who

In 2024, the Mid-Length Monty appeared in Doctor Who, worn by the Doctor.

The Mid-Length Monty Duffle Coat, worn with a red beanie on a grassy clifftop in Doctor Who.

2026: 75 years

The Original Monty is still in production, its toggle-and-loop fastenings and proportions essentially unchanged. It hasn't needed redesigning.

2026: Dufflewool, natural wool insulation

Our newest innovation puts wool inside the coat. Dufflewool is our natural wool insulation: a 100% wool fill and a down-free alternative to goose down. It gives warmth with 25% less weight than polyester, by Gloverall's own measure.

A man wearing the black Monty Dufflewool Duffle Coat, a quilted duffle coat with toggle fastenings and a hood.

For Autumn Winter 2026, Dufflewool expanded into a range of eight garments, from quilted liner jackets and an MA1 bomber to a puffa jacket, a field jacket, parkas and a duffle coat. Each one is listed below and in the Dufflewool collection.

What Gloverall makes today

Duffle coats

The Original Monty remains the centrepiece of the range, as the Men's Original Monty Duffle Coat and Women's Original Monty Duffle Coat. The Men's Mid-Length Monty Duffle Coat sits alongside them. Original archive pieces of the Mid-Length Monty, found in our warehouse, are available as the Men's Mid-Length Monty Duffle Coat (Archive).

The Freda family, named for co-founder Freda Morris, extends the duffle coat into contemporary silhouettes with buffalo horn toggles on leather loops. It includes the Women's Freda Duffle Coat, Women's Freda Long Slim Fit Duffle Coat and Women's Freda Short Slim Fit Duffle Coat. The Men's Morris Duffle Coat and Men's Morris Mid-Length Duffle Coat keep the founding family's name on the label. The Women's Shelley Cropped Duffle Jacket carries the duffle into jacket length. You can also find the duffle coats and jacket above in our men's duffle coats and women's duffle coats collections.

Peacoats and overcoats

The Men's Churchill Peacoat applies the same construction logic to the naval peacoat, joined by the Men's Admiralty Melton Wool Peacoat and the Women's Clementine Peacoat. The Men's Chesterfield Overcoat and Women's Chesterfield Overcoat bring the range into tailored overcoat territory. The Men's Hynes Harris Tweed® Overcoat is named after Syd Hynes and built from Harris Tweed® woven in the Outer Hebrides. The Hynes also comes as the Men's Hynes Wool Overcoat, and the Selvon brings the same pairing to womenswear as the Women's Selvon Wool Overcoat and Women's Selvon Harris Tweed® Overcoat.

Gloverall Renewed

Gloverall Renewed turns Gloverall's own surplus (cloth, trims and archive materials) over to independent UK makers, who design small, limited collections from whatever the archive yields. It is a practical use of what would otherwise go to waste, and the results tend to be worth looking at. Pieces include the Men's Renewed Works Jacket Navy, Men's Renewed Works Zip Jacket Navy, Men's Renewed Works Button Jacket Sand, Men's Renewed Works Vest Navy and Men's Renewed Serviceman Vest Khaki. A cap and two bags join them: the Unisex Renewed Hulme Cap, Unisex Gloverall x Minnessak Renewed Weekend Bag and Unisex Gloverall x Minnessak Renewed Cross Body Bag.

Collaborations

Pieces from our collaborations include two Norbit coats: the Men's Gloverall x Norbit Mid-Length Monty Duffle Coat Dark Navy and Men's Gloverall x Norbit Morris Coat Dark Navy. Dawson Denim adds three more: the Men's Dawson Denim Type II Trucker Jacket, Men's Dawson Denim Standard Fit Jeans Dark Indigo and Men's Dawson Denim Wide Leg Fit Jeans Washed Indigo. All three are made in Japan.

Made in England

Gloverall has been making coats in England since 1951, and every coat in the Heritage Collection is made in England at our factory outside London. Our Made in England page explains why that matters, and has the five films we made about it. Browse the coats in the Heritage Collection.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gloverall?

Gloverall is a British outerwear brand founded in London in 1951 by Harold and Freda Morris. It brought the Royal Navy's duffle coat to the civilian market and has been making duffle coats since 1951, with peacoats and wool overcoats alongside them in today's range. Gloverall reached its 75th anniversary in 2026.

When was Gloverall founded?

1951. Harold and Freda Morris founded the brand in London, initially selling surplus Royal Navy duffle coats before commissioning new coats, cut from new cloth to the same military pattern.

Why is it called Gloverall?

The name is a contraction of the Morrises' original wholesale trade: gloves and overalls. The brand has used it since 1951.

What is the Gloverall Original Monty?

The Original Monty is Gloverall's definitive duffle coat: knee-length, with wooden toggles on jute rope loops and a wide hood, made to the 1951 pattern and still in production today. It is named after Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery; the full story of the name, and of where the Heritage Collection is made, is on our Made in England page.