Art of the Trench by Burberry

Social networking has virtually eclipsed all traditional forms of communication. It's surprising then that there's such a dearth of attractive, interesting social networking platforms that are aspirational without being snobbish, interesting but not intrusive. Burberry recently bucked this trend, honing in on one of the greater benefits of social networking and the web in general - the ability to share stories with people joined by a common interest across the globe.

See a selection of Schuman's photographs, which launched the site

Artofthetrench.com - a site within Burberry.com - launched on Friday and is a very simple, beautiful platform for devotees of the trench to share pictures and the story behind their beloved belted coat. This might sound pedantic but as anyone who owns a trench will testify, it's an item of clothing that has a particular character - be that in the way you choose to wear it or the things you choose to do in it. Burberry's heritage is of course founded on the trench coat and the artofthetrench.com seeks to bring these people together.

Getting things off on the right foot, Christopher Bailey, Burberry's Creative Director, launched the site by commissioning the Sartorialist, aka Scott Schuman, to photograph trench coat wearers in the world's fashion capitals. Going forward the idea is that people will upload their own photos with comments, (other users can comment also), building the site into a forum and an ongoing archive devoted to the trench. As far as social network sites go - it's one of the best-conceived, best-looking ones we've signed-up to.