Is London Fog a Good Brand?

You have a London Fog label in your hand, on a store rack or from a family closet, and you want a straight answer before you spend. Is London Fog a good brand? For a mid-price raincoat in light rain, yes, as long as you read the cloth and the weather words on the tag before you pay.

A long storm, or a luxury-house trench, is a different purchase, and this label does not cover either one. London Fog is an American outerwear name from Baltimore, built on washable raincoats, not a British fashion house.

The label now covers trenches, parkas, and a pile of licensed extras, and those are not one product. This guide covers where the name comes from, what a new coat is made of, how to check the one in front of you, and which piece fits rain, cold, or a trip.

What Is London Fog?

London Fog began as the Londontown Clothing Company in Baltimore in 1922, a shop for tailored men’s clothes and topcoats. Israel Myers was 16 in 1923 when he started there as a part-time stenographer, and he bought the name and the assets in 1931 after the firm failed in 1930. The company history dates the business to 1922, while the brand’s own 100th anniversary count in 2023 uses 1923.

The name on a new coat is a license, not a factory you can tour. In August 2006 Iconix Brand Group agreed to the planned purchase of the London Fog brand for $30.5 million in cash and $7 million in stock. The U.S. license for men’s and women’s outerwear went to Herman Kay Bromley, a New York coat maker that already produced outerwear for other labels.

“London Fog is an iconic name with a long and rich heritage and extremely high brand awareness. It will greatly diversify our portfolio by adding a classic brand that appeals to a broad segment of consumers in the U.S. and around the world.”

Neil Cole, chairman and chief executive, Iconix Brand Group, August 21, 2006 announcement

That announcement also cited a Women’s Wear Daily study that placed London Fog as the most recognized outerwear brand in the United States. Iconix was buying a famous name, then handing the sewing to licensees. The same announcement said Iconix licenses brands to other makers and does not manufacture the goods itself.

The Iconix page for London Fog still lists the label for men and women 25 to 55 and for boys and girls 4 to 14. The categories run through outerwear, footwear, clothes, eyewear, luggage, umbrellas, and smaller add-ons. In the United States the coats are sold at Kohl’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, other specialty shops, and the brand site, with more sales in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, Korea, and India.

How Did the London Fog Raincoat Get Its Name?

During the Second World War, Myers took a Navy contract for rubber-based waterproof coats for enlisted men, even though that kind of making was new to the shop. After the war he stayed with civilian raincoats, and he wanted them to look like clothes rather than like a tarp.

Ordinary cloth would not stay both dry and comfortable, and a polyester from DuPont melted under the sewing machines. DuPont and the fabric firm Reeves Brothers then built a cotton and Dacron cloth that could be sewn, shed rain, and keep that finish through a washing machine. The cut followed the old trench, with shoulder straps, sleeve straps, and a belt. Myers had resisted the London Fog name, then let it stand.

The first public offer came in a New York Times ad from Saks Fifth Avenue on March 7, 1954. The ad called the coat “remarkably lightweight and wrinkle-free,” and the price was $29.75, more than double other men’s raincoats at the time. The lot sold through. A column in the paper the next week treated the name itself as the sales pitch.

Women were already buying the men’s coats, so John Wanamaker in Philadelphia asked for a women’s version. The maker kept the design, added two darts at the chest, moved the buttons to the left, and in 1955 that first women’s run sold through at Wanamaker. Through the 1950s and the middle of the 1960s the firm added a full liner you could zip out, so a winter raincoat could work in milder months, plus a way to keep buttons on and a barrier at the shoulder. Londontown sold shares to the public in 1961 and joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1966.

Jonathan P. Myers, Israel’s son, became president in 1969 and pushed women’s styles, the first outlet store, and licensed extras from umbrellas to luggage. In 1976 Interco, the St. Louis company that also owned Ethan Allen and Florsheim, bought Londontown. Through the 1980s, cheaper imported raincoats pressed the business, and Londontown answered with a lower-priced line made overseas while it was still running plants at home.

The harder break came in the early 1990s, when a new chief closed plants and shifted almost all making overseas, and a fight with stores over markdown timing hurt orders. The comeback that produced the first profit since 1991 also included the closing of the last London Fog plant. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in the fall of 1999. With the plants gone, the coat on the hanger is the evidence that matters, and the tag is where that evidence sits.

What Is a New London Fog Coat Made Of?

A new London Fog coat is a department-store shell, sold as imported on the retail listings, with a finish described as water-resistant or water-repellent. Those words mean the cloth sheds a shower for a while. They do not mean a sealed waterproof layer, and these product pages do not give a millimeter rain rating.

As of November 2026, the regular price and cloth on the women’s classic trench at Kohl’s sit beside two styles from the brand site. Sale tags move. The regular prices are the stable comparison.

The cotton and polyester trench is the closest of the three to the old rainwear idea. The jacket and the parka are mostly polyester, with a little stretch in the jacket and a cotton share in the parka. Same brand, three different cloths.

The men’s belted trench at Macy’s is a separate check. That 44-inch raincoat, with a polyester and nylon shell and a polyester lining, showed 4.4 out of 5 from 319 ratings in late October 2026, and the size note calls the fit true to size. The score is one style at one store, not a grade for every coat with the label, and the listing tells you to machine wash it.

How to Check a London Fog Coat Before You Buy

The script on the chest has stayed famous. The tag inside tells you which London Fog you are holding, and that line decides the buy.

WHAT TO READ ON THE COAT

• The country: A made-in-the-United-States line points to the years when Londontown still ran plants, and an imported line points to the licensed coats sold now.
• The weather word: Water-resistant and water-repellent mean a shower, not an all-day storm, unless the tag also names a sealed waterproof layer.
• The liner: A zip-out liner is the feature Londontown added so one coat could cover winter and milder months, and a missing liner drops a large part of that design.
• The fiber line: Cotton with Dacron is the 1954 cloth, while a shell that is mostly polyester is the current department-store cloth.
• The job: Match the spend to drizzle and city cold, using the regular prices in the table, not to a day on an open trail.

After those lines, put the coat on over the layers you actually wear to work. A belt can hide a poor fit for a minute in the mirror. The Kohl’s women’s classic is listed at 37 inches, and the Macy’s men’s trench at 44 inches, so the hems are different coats even when the brand matches. If you cannot try it on, use the size chart for that exact style, because a parka and a short jacket do not share a block.

Which London Fog Piece Fits Your Weather?

Once the tag checks out, the next split is the weather you walk in. A trench, a parka, and a suitcase share the name and not the job.

A Trench for Commutes and Light Rain

The trench is the coat this brand is known for, and it still makes sense for a city week of drizzle, wind, and an office that expects a collar and a belt. Many of the current cuts keep a storm flap, shoulder straps, a belt you can leave open, and pockets sized for a commute.

Picture a Tuesday with a twenty-minute walk and a coat that has to look normal in a meeting. A water-resistant London Fog trench covers that walk. For an hour in open rain with no overhangs, a hiking shell with a waterproof layer and sealed seams is the tool, and the trench stays on the hook.

A Parka When the Cold Is the Problem

Cold is a different purchase from rain. The brand’s water resistant shell on its parka is a snorkel style with heavyweight insulation, a hood, and removable faux fur, in a cloth of 85 percent polyester and 15 percent cotton. The care line says machine wash cold, tumble dry low, and do not dry clean, and the fit note says true to size.

• The shell: The tag says water resistant, not sealed waterproof seams.
• The warmth: Heavyweight insulation is there for cold days, which a bare trench does not give you.
• The hood: Faux fur trims it, and the trim comes off when you do not want it.

Use this parka when the problem is cold air on a walk, and keep the trench for wet milder days. The two are both London Fog, and they do not replace each other. If a sale page shows a different style number, read that page’s cloth and care line before you assume it is this parka.

An Older Coat From a Family Closet

An older London Fog is the coat that built the praise you still hear. People who still wear a parent’s version, and people who bring a trench home from a thrift rack and have it tailored, are talking about those earlier clothes. A made-in-the-United-States line, or a cotton and Dacron blend, points to the years when Londontown still ran plants.

Those coats earned the praise with cloth and a liner, not with a logo refresh. If the liner is gone, you have lost the feature that made the design useful across seasons. Thrift racks still turn these trenches up because the cut and the weight feel different from a new polyester shell.

TRY THE SHOULDERS IN THE SHOWER

A vintage finish can look perfect and still wet through. Hang the coat in a shower spray for a few minutes before you trust it on a commute. If the shoulders darken and stay wet, the repellent finish is tired.

If the water beads and runs off, the finish still does the job the 1954 cloth was built to do. Either result is more useful than the logo on the chest.

Luggage and the Other London Fog Products

Luggage, umbrellas, shoes, and smaller add-ons carry the same name because the license was built to spread it. A suitcase is not a raincoat, and the coat reputation does not move over on its own.

A SEPARATE BUY

• The complaint: Luggage buyers describe zippers, linings, and handles that fail within two years, and in some cases after only a few trips.
• The warranty: A recurring follow-up is a service request that went unanswered, or a warranty the owner could not get honored.
• The choice: Judge a suitcase by its hardware and its return rules, not by a trench you liked years ago.

If you want the brand for weather, stay with outerwear and read the coat tag. If you want a suitcase, treat London Fog as one more luggage label and check the zipper before the trip is on the calendar.

Who Is a London Fog Coat For?

By 1975, about two-thirds of the mid-priced and better raincoats sold in the United States carried a London Fog label, which is why the name still sounds like a default. The person that share describes today is narrower.

You are the right buyer if you want a classic raincoat for drizzle, a commute, and a workplace that still reads a trench as normal clothes, at the regular prices in the table above. You are also the right buyer if you already own a United States-made London Fog and you want to keep wearing it, after a shower test and a tailor visit if the sleeves or the hem need a small fix.

Skip it if your days are long storms, wet trails, or deep cold without a real insulated layer. A water-resistant trench will not do that work. Skip it too if you want the hand-feel of a luxury trench from a house in a much higher price band. London Fog was built as the coat more people could buy, and the 2006 license kept the name in that wider market.

Mistakes That Spoil a London Fog Purchase

A few buying habits turn a fair coat into a disappointment, and each one shows up before you pay.

• The storm test: Buying a trench for trail rain or an all-day downpour, when the tag only promises a water-resistant or water-repellent finish.
• The memory price: Paying luxury money, or refusing a fair price, because a parent’s United States-made coat lasted for decades.
• The wash: Running an older coat through the machine cycle printed on a new polyester jacket, instead of the care label on that garment.
• The suitcase: Choosing luggage because the trench was good, then meeting hardware that is a different product.

Department stores still hang the name beside much cheaper rain shells and much thinner fashion coats. The hanger position will not do this sorting for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Machine Wash a London Fog Coat?

The parka and the Maplewood midweight jacket on the brand site are machine-washable in cold water, with low tumble dry and no dry cleaning. A coat that says dry clean only, or one with a wool-blend collar from an older label, needs a cleaner instead. Use the care label sewn into the coat you are holding, because a care line from a different style can ruin the cloth.

Does London Fog Run Small or Large?

Start with your usual size. The men’s belted trench, the hooded parka, and the Maplewood jacket are all listed as true to size. A bomber, a skirted girls’ trench, and a knee-length trench can share that size letter and still land at different lengths, so try the coat over a sweater if you can.

Does London Fog Make Coats for Children?

Yes. The brand lists boys and girls from 4 to 14, and its site has offered a girls’ snap-front trench in 100 percent polyester with a fleece-lined hood. That piece is a light fashion layer, so read the cloth the same way you would on an adult coat before you count on it for a cold playground.

Will an Old Water-Repellent Finish Still Work?

An old water-repellent finish does not keep working on its own. The cotton and Dacron cloth from the 1950s was made to stay water-repellent through washing, and years of wear can still exhaust that finish. Spray the shoulders at home, and if the water soaks in and the cloth stays dark, the coat can remain worth wearing as clothes without still being a rain shield.

Is London Fog Connected to Burberry?

No. London Fog comes from Baltimore, and Burberry is a separate British house. Iconix once described a plan to give London Fog the kind of broad lifestyle recognition associated with Coach and Burberry, and that plan was marketing, not a shared owner or a shared factory.

Take the coat under the brightest light in the store and read the fiber line before you pay. An imported London Fog piece that says mostly polyester and water-resistant can still be the right raincoat for a wet commute at a mid-range price, and the famous name does not add a promise the tag left off.