You’d have to be blind to have not caught a glimpse of one of the most famous patterns in the world, the Burberry Check. Once masterminded by the British heritage brand as a sign of luxury, the beige, red, black and white tartan has also become notorious as one of the most copied and counterfeited in the world. Around the time Christopher Bailey took the reins as Burberry’s creative director in 2001, the tartan went from a high-end sign of aspiration to a symbol of ‘chav’ and football ‘hooliganism’ culture. The tartan was, and can still be, seen everywhere from scarves to iPhone cases, shopping trolleys, kitchen goods and even painted on buildings. Although the British heritage house managed to reclaim the tartan in 2006 through a series of intelligent advertising and brand moves – including input from Mario Testino – the proliferation of products out there is still mind-boggling, albeit extremely creative.

Toby Leigh has spent a decade documenting the phenomenon, which he refers to as ‘Berberry’, all over the world.  “I’ve always had a fascination with fake products,” says the artist and photographer. “Especially things that are so unashamedly fake that they become really funny but also quite beautiful. About ten years ago, I started seeing the pattern appearing everywhere as I walked around London and would find myself laughing a lot.”

Now immortalised in the book Berberry – produced by Ditto Press – Leigh attempts to pinpoint the global fascination with the pattern: “It’s really amazing how this simple pattern has become so ubiquitous. It feels like the go-to design for anyone wanting to give their product or item a sense of luxury. We also live in a world where we yearn for things to feel like they have some kind of heritage and the ‘Berberry’ plaid seems to tap into that on some level,” he explains, adding, “It also represents a ‘Britishness’, which I think resonates across the world and especially in factories in China knocking out cheap goods.”

With over 60 pages and 100 images dedicated to the beauty of ‘Berberry’, Leigh has seen it all. So, what’s his favourite? “The Calvin Klein underpants with the Berberry pattern. I saw them in a shop in Marrakech. They seem to capture our ridiculous obsession with anything ‘designer’. I regret to this day that I didn’t buy a load of pairs and give them to people as presents.”

Berberry – produced by Ditto Press – is available now. Ditto Press will host the London launch on December 3, for more details click here