Copper & Courage: The Genesis of Private White V.C.
A new film showcases a century of courage and craft.
The Rake’s love for heritage brands is no secret. Private White V.C.’s sartorial standing and dedication to British craftsmanship has long been on our radar, but a much more personal story about their eponymous founder – unearthed to the public almost a century later – underpins the weight and durability imbued in the quality of their singular outerwear, proudly produced in Manchester.
A new film, Copper & Courage: The Genesis of Private White V.C., commissioned by James Eden, CEO and great-grandson of Private Jack White V.C., honours the past and present of his family’s enduring legacy; juxtaposing intimately tactile sequences of their garment-makers putting their sharp skills to work against scenes of a hostile stand-off between the British and Ottoman empires during world war I. The colours and textures of the fabric, shown in rich caramels and shades of blue, seamlessly give way to the natural terrains of sand and saltwater, once navigated by Private Jack White V.C. as he journeyed across the Diyala River as a signaller for the British Army. The river would become the location of this signaller’s heroic act that continues to inform and inspire his brand’s ethos for generations to come.
As the needle pierces fabric at a rapid pace, recreating the distant echo of shredding enemy fire, the film chronicles Private Jack White V.C.’s plunge into the depths on 7th March, 1917, snapping a copper telephone wire in the process that he would ultimately utilise from underneath his vessel to tow both surviving and fallen comrades to the shore’s safety. This moment of selfless quick-thinking earned him the Victoria Cross, as well as the gumption to harness both his penchant for pattern-cutting and business acumen to sustain what remains as Britain’s last stand-alone clothing factory.
“For so long I have wanted to showcase the incredible true story of my great-grandfather on film,” said Eden. “His legacy, his values, his approach to craft underpins everything we do today. Copper & Courage finally allows us to share that story with the world, from the battlefield to the factory floor.”
The filmmakers’ use of generative AI to tell this story indicates a more symbiotic marriage between traditional methods of creation – undoubtedly prioritised and championed by Private White V.C.’s team – and newer, innovative technologies in powerfully disseminating the values of the brand to new customers, while providing longer-term devotees with further context behind their hero garments.
“AI opened up possibilities we simply couldn’t have achieved through traditional production alone,” said Mark Hancock, Managing Director at production partner, ZUT. “But it wasn’t a one-click solution. Our team experimented with hundreds of prompts, refined parameters, and blended AI outputs with filmed elements to achieve the tone, historical accuracy, and emotional impact this story deserved.”
