liberty defines london fashion

The iconic brand Liberty of London was founded in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty. The Tudor-style store, located on London’s Regent Street, originally sold luxury fabric, ornaments and art objects from Japan and Eastern cultures.

As it gained popularity, Liberty began to offer carpet, wallpaper and furniture. They cultivated relationships with key designers from the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. In 1884, Liberty even created a costume department to rival the fashion designs of Paris.

The brand became renowned for its fine floral cotton fabrics, which were sold by the yard or made into shirts, ties, dresses and quilts. As Liberty expanded, it became the most fashionable place to shop in London. The store continued to thrive, and experienced a major resurgence in the 1960s when London rose to the forefront of the young fashion world.

PHOTOs: CC-BY-SA Garry Knight — Flickr,
etsy with Prints © Liberty of London

liberty expands
line to stay fresh

Today Liberty is still renowned for the floral woven textiles that originally made it famous. In order to evolve with the times and keep up with the latest fashions, Liberty has recently collaborated with other popular brands to create a wide array of products expanding far beyond its original sphere of clothing and home furnishings.

The brand collaborated with two famous footwear manufacturers — Doc Martens and Nike — in order to create new lines of boots and sneakers. It also partnered with MAC cosmetics to create a new line of makeup with packaging featuring Liberty designs.

In recent years some of its partnerships have been geared towards creating much more affordable merchandise. Liberty recently collaborated with Target to produce a line of Liberty print items including dresses, bathing suits, pajamas, umbrellas and bicycles.

PHOTOs: Liberty of London for Target,
© Make-up Art Cosmetics, © Nike

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