Barbour teams up with Paddington for Christmas campaign

Barbour is collaborating with the much-loved children’s character Paddington Bear for its seasonal campaign with a heart-warming tale on sustainability and a reminder of what’s really important at Christmas time.

The Barbour ‘Please Look This Bear’ festive film follows the mishaps and adventures of Paddington Bear as he comes up with an idea for a thoughtful gift to re-wax Mr Brown’s beloved Barbour jacket for Christmas.

Paddington then decides to re-wax the Barbour jacket himself in the kitchen, referring to the process “as simple as spreading marmalade on bread” something he’s quite good at. On Christmas Day, the family is gathered together and Paddington presents Mr Brown with a messily wrapped gift to reveal the jacket.

Paul Wilkinson, group marketing director at Barbour said in a statement: “Paddington Bear is a much-loved children’s character who is kind-hearted and full of good intentions even if he does get into scrapes along the way!

“To celebrate our Re-Waxing Centenary, we have centred the story around a thoughtful gift from Paddington as he re-waxes Mr Brown’s beloved Barbour jacket for Christmas. It’s nostalgic, humorous and sentimental and shows just how much our Barbour jackets are loved and become an important part of the family; if re-waxed at least once a year, they can last a long long time.”

As well as being full of nostalgia, the festive film also aims to highlight the joy of giving a special present that means so much and to celebrate Barbour's 100 years of sustainability by re-waxing jackets for a century.

Barbour highlights sustainability with festive film starring Paddington Bear

The animation for the festive film was produced by triple Academy-Award winning production company Passion Pictures in hand-painted 2D and directed by Trio Againstallodds.

The film was created in TV Paint and aftereffects, with every frame of the animation being hand-drawn and painted to bring Peggy Fortnum signature style to life. Fortnum illustrated the original Paddington Bear books written by Michael Bond, and this is the first time her illustration style has been animated.

The whole process took 3,000 hours of work in the design, animation and composition of the final film.

Barbour to launch children’s Paddington Bear collection

To support the campaign, Barbour is also launching a children’s Paddington Bear collection featuring soft jersey sweats and hoodies in navy, red, grey and ecru, alongside nightwear. They all feature humorous Paddington Bear illustrations by Peggy Fortnum and some with a "Barbour twist". The collection also includes accessories from hat and scarf sets to beanie hats and cosy wellington socks.

Image: courtesy of Barbour