#the impact the 1917 run has on popular culture will constantly amaze me

[nikolinaboldero]

Liberty’s London Independent Study Visit.

16/11/18

Liberty’s London is known for its luxury goods, covering everything from fashion to cosmetics and then to interior design. It is particularly recognised for its graphic and floral prints. Liberty has played a major role in the development of new artistic styles, such as the arts and craft movement, art noveau. His father gave him a loan of 2,000 pounds in order for Arthur Lasneby Liberty to open up the shop on Regent Street, it officially opened in 1875 and had three employees. Naming the store as the ‘East India house’ his collection of fabrics, ornaments and objects from the Far East proved irresistible to a society who at the time was intoxicated by the East (orientalist fervour).

 The Grade II-listed iconic mock-Tudor store known today was built in 1924, seven years after Liberty died and was constructed with the timbers of two ships- HMS Hindustan and HMS Impreganble. Arthur died in 1917, seven years before his successors at Liberty realised his dream of docking a ship in the streets of London. The store on Great Marlborough Street was constructed from the timbers of two decommissioned Royal Navy Ships. HMS Impregnable was built from more than 3,000 100-year-old New Forest oaks. The second was the HMS Hindustan, a huge ship which is said to have matched the store it contributed to building in height and length. Also in the department store, there is an old staircase which pays tribute to the Liberty staff who lost their lives fighting in the Second World War for different kind of liberty- freedom from the regimes of the Axis powers. Liberty’s nautical theme continues in the weathervane, a gold coloured ship which sits above the entrance on Great Marlborough Street. The weathervane is a replica of The Mayflower, which transported Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. All of these features link the building to its profound history. Whenever I walk into Liberty’s I am so amazed by the decoration and the beautiful structure of the department store. I don’t go in there to shop instead I just gather visual inspiration. Liberty’s carries an experience, tells a story, this is what makes it so different to other department stores. Straight away you can picture the cultural collaborations, such as print designs taken from Java or India. (Liberty’s was also the first department store where women could visit and shop independently, away from their husbands).

 Liberty London is widely regarded as one of the best and most luxurious shopping experiences in the capital. Oscar Wilde called it ‘the chosen resort of the artistic shopper’. The reason why Liberty’s is so well known is because of its cultural relationships/connections with other countries across the globe, its rich heritage has made Liberty’s a beautiful and interesting destination to discover. Liberty’s is very true to itself, it is unique and not trying to accommodate for the growing consumer demand, it has managed to be so extremely successful without involving high street brands in their fashion departments. It does have sections dedicated to brands like Erdem and Ganni, but each section still blends in with the Liberty’s surroundings/environment. In contrast, there is Selfridges another department store in London which is very popular. This store has become lost in high street fashion.

 ‘The Arts and Craft Movement of the late 19th century was one of the most influential artistic movements in modern British history’. A major social reform, rejecting modernity in favour of a romantic revival of medieval and folk aesthetics and traditional techniques’. Art Critic John Ruskin did not believe modernity in terms of globalization, new international division of labour and mass production was having a positive impact on fashion and textiles. He praised gothic architecture, whose roughness was evidence of the craftsman’s personality and freedom. Ruskin’s ideas were hugely influential to the social activist William Morris. By the 1880s Morris was a well-known figure, ‘his designs the height of fashion, and the wider Arts and Craft Movement was born. Liberty London dealt in goods favoured by his style.

 Simple elements from the heart of the brand’s heritage are constantly looked at, reviewed, for example they created a new and more vivid Liberty purple; the famous crest redrawn and the identity was refreshed to express the core elements of the brand more powerfully. This is how they continue to build heritage into the brand name. Liberty is famous for its range of signature fabrics. The brand looks at their huge archive of prints, to carry on unleashing powerful, instantly recognisable clothes for marketing and communications campaigns. The ‘Liberty London’ name was applied across both the store and product brands for added consistency, creating a brand architecture and naming certain conventions than work with partner brands like Hermes or Target.

Liberty Fabrics and Print- collection

The ‘East India House’ (1875) sold Oriental imports- namely rugs, decorative objects and fabrics. After several years the East India House grew and demand for their beautiful fabrics increased. It was at this time that Liberty’s decided to import undyed fabrics and have them hand printed in England in the style of Oriental prints. At this moment in time, Liberty’s started marketing their own fabrics as ‘Made in England’.

1920s- Liberty’s designed prints with miniature floral and paisley designs.

Tana Lawn cotton is the most popular of all the fabric selection in liberty’s, the material is very lightweight therefore it is suitable to be used for dresses, blouses, shirts and skirts.

 I personally think that you can get quite a variety of people shopping in Liberty’s because it has a collection of items, ranging from for example fashion to interiors. It sells a lot of luxury goods therefore it does exclude some of the population who cannot afford to shop here. Those who like high street fashion/high street shopping are not likely to shop in Liberty’s London, they will shop in the more modern department stores like Selfridges. Liberty’s does not just attract the shoppers, people also visit the department store because of its rich history and store heritage. Oscar wild- ‘the chosen resort of the artistic shopper’- I go to the store to study the fashion garments, their beautiful pieces sourced from their archive, I look at the interior design and textiles all for inspiration.

Fashion raincoat by Ganni. Modern representation of textiles in Libertys. ‘GANNI has developed exponentially over recent years with its Scandi 2.0 sense of style full of personality and contrasts. Based in Copenhagen and owned and run since 2009 by husband and wife team Ditte Reffstrup and Nicolaj Reffstrup.

 ‘We sought after a more playful and effortless approach to design, that represents how I want to dress and look. Without strict dogmas or rules, but with room for personality, contrasts and experimentations’.

 The company is based in Copenhagen and I believe that a lot of the designing and production happens here. They have mentioned in one of their interviews online that they get inspiration from the area and the cool Copenhagen girls. The material of this coat is very similar to PVC fabric, although it is a lot softer and more flexible. The material is loose and adjusts to the female figure. On top of the material there are some flowers which have been printed on. The flowers have been made to look quite graphic, like a picture, they have a similar appearance to a water coloured painting of a flower. I really like this fashion garment because it stands out from the other designs in the fashion department. It was an example of a piece which you wouldn’t find in high street department stores, like Selfridges, therefore making it original to liberty’s. It is beautiful, I love the reflective appearance on the coat and the quality of the material. It shows a clear example of how improvements in technology (innovation) have allowed for more creative approaches to producing garments. In the store, the piece was just hung up on a rail. I think that fashion designers are more likely to buy this piece of clothing, it is a statement piece as opposed to being used for everyday use. It is also 240 pounds therefore it is not for anyone to wear. The raincoat reminded me of my final collection at the end of the 2 years of A level. I made a raincoat, enmeshing petals in between two layers of PVC fabric. Here are some images below of the garment.

 In the warehouse in Hayford there is a selection of Liberty prints and sketches. The warehouse is packed with oversized books, labelled boxes and preserved paintings, the rooms are all guarded by the archive department who have the important task of ensuring every design, ranging from the Tana Lawn to the silk satin, is documented with information and stored in the database. The 1880s was when Liberty started producing their own pattern books. There are around 40, 000 prints held in the archive. In the archive, the textile materials are kept away from any form of dust and light in acid-free boxes as much as possible. The artwork is stored in these things called melanex sleeves. Libertys has a good relationship with the paper conservation course at Camberwell College of Arts. ‘Tana Lawn’ is one of Liberty's most well known and loved fabrics, with the name originating from Lake Tana in East Africa, where the original cotton grew. This classic print is made from ultra-fine long staple cotton and without the use of crease-resisting chemicals or irritating allergens. With fabric technology at the forefront, the end result offers an iconic look and soft touch’.

Images of my own design- fashion garment from 2018 winter collection.