Women’s 2011 Icon Trench

Though waterproof gabardine coats had been around for decades, the trench coat as we know it didn't arrive until WWI. Named after soldiers fighting in the trenches of Europe, the coat was a combination of the waterproof military cape and the greatcoat. After the war, veterans returning to civilian life continued to wear theirs due to the coat's durability, and by the middle of the 20th century, the trench was a sartorial icon, the most elegant solution for a rainy day.