Sienna Miller and Sir Idris Elba go looking for each other across the Pentland Hills in Barbour's AW26 film, made by The Sunshine Company and shot by Robbie Ryan.
Sienna Miller and Sir Idris Elba star in the new Barbour advert, The Barbour Way, the brand’s autumn winter 2026 campaign film. It went up on Barbour’s own channel on 14 September, casting the pair as old friends whose attempt to meet up in the Scottish countryside goes charmingly wrong.
Barbour says the story takes its characters to the Pentland Hills, the range just south-west of Edinburgh. The plot turns on a mix-up between two pubs with the same name, which sends them across cobbled streets and farmland before they finally find each other on a grassy hillside, as Creative Review described it.
The idea comes from the brand’s own origin. Founder John Barbour travelled 130 miles from Kirkcudbrightshire in south-west Scotland to South Shields, where he opened the first Barbour shop in 1894. The journey gives the campaign its name and its excuse for a very pretty road trip.
It is also a tartan launch in disguise. The season introduces two reworked tartans: Birchwood, a fresh take on Barbour’s dress tartan inspired by Scottish woodland, and Shadow, a softer version of the classic. They run across knitwear, shirts, dresses, trousers, outerwear and accessories rather than just the waxed jackets.
The Sunshine Company created it, with Shannon Murphy directing through Smugglers. The cinematographer is Robbie Ryan, who also shot Alzheimer’s Research UK’s single-take film The First One this month, which makes him quietly responsible for two of September’s best-looking British ads.
Creative Review judged it beautifully made if a little safe, and that feels fair. Barbour no longer needs to shout: fashion’s appetite for heritage, quiet luxury and cottagecore has already done the work, helped by collaborations with Paul Smith, Farm Rio and Margaret Howell. Like Whistles marking its fiftieth year, it is a British fashion brand selling its own story back to a customer who has rediscovered it.
Credits: The Sunshine Company. Executive creative director Clemmie Telford, creative director Ursula Underhill, head of production Lesley Williams. Director Shannon Murphy, represented by Smugglers. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan.
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