“Liberty is the place chosen by the artistic client,” said Oscar Wilde, the dandy par excellence of the 19th century. Writer, poet and playwright of the Victorian era, he used to go to buy scarves at the Liberty department store
Determined to always make a difference, he soon began to support the artists of the Arts and Crafts movement, led by William Morris, whose goal was to restore beauty to everyday objects, drawing inspiration from nature and raising the value of craftsmanship. . Thus, the almond-shaped floral, wild or paisley motifs began to be printed on excellent quality cotton and sold by the meter in the Tudor-style building that today is a British institution.
“Arthur L. Liberty bought undyed fabrics in India to allow this creative part to be carried out in London, thus selling the product as Made in England and thus changing the image of a colonizing company in favor of a more local flavor. If we look at the social situation in the twenties or sixties we can understand the reason for its success. The drawings and the color of the prints unleash joy, nostalgia for our childhood, the desire to enjoy the splendor of spring…” explains Julia Weems, director of the Fashion Area of ??the Istituto European di Design (IED) in Barcelona.
In 1935, the dressmaker of the Queen of England and her sister Margaret ordered the fabrics from Liberty to make the dresses that they both wore at the premiere of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, at the exquisite Lyceum Theater in London. A photographer from the local press immortalized the arrival of both princesses, Isabel with a dress of small flowers in a range of blues, the color of nobility, and her sister with another in a peach tone. The print thus became the favorite of British royalty and aristocracy. Let’s remember that Diana Spencer wore a flirtatious blue and violet Liberty print dress with French sleeves and a marked silhouette at her waist at her wedding rehearsal at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Already married, and like Queen Elizabeth, she wore Liberty dresses on her international tours, such as the one to the Pacific Ocean in 1982, combined with the most elegant headdresses and gloves and her legendary Launer London bag.
“Liberty has more than 50,000 different floral motifs that can be purchased by the meter. Their inspiring work of historical conservation has meant that there is no season in which luxury houses and streetstyle brands do not find inspiration in them,” says Barbara Lindsey, professor of Art History at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. “Pretty always pleases. Flowers are always an attraction. If they are also drawn and colored in such an exquisite and friendly way, it is impossible not to fall in love with them. Liberty also sells garments already made with its fabrics, from dresses to household linens. And let’s not forget his collaborations with designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Cacharel and Vivienne Westwood, among others,” adds Jaume Vidiella, director of the School of Fashion Arts and Techniques (EATM) in Barcelona.
In 2019 the brand began its journey into ready-to-wear and in 2021 the launch of pajamas, masks and dressing gowns under the name Liberty say relax was a huge success. But before, in 2010, the house had landed in the United States with a pop-up store. Its expansion around the world took an even more pronounced flight at the end of last year, when the creations of the FuturLiberty creative laboratory were exhibited at the Museo del Novecento and the Palazzo Morando in Milan, under the direction of the couturier and interior designer Federico Forquet, disciple of the great Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Forquet and his team have carried out an exploration of the Liberty archive, especially the motifs created by Bernard Nevill in the 1960s. Motifs have been reinvented and others generated with 3D digital printing technology, taking futurism and vorticism as the main source of inspiration, thus giving rise to designs where movement and geometry are the main protagonists.
Liberty thus gains greater strength in the world of decoration. One of the collaborations that has been most successful recently has been the table and wall lamps made together with the Scandinavian firm Hay. The lampshade of these beautiful luminaires is shaped like a pleated inverted cone and its covering is available in five floral and vegetal prints that exude colorful joy. Added to this union are creations previously made for Microsoft computers or the courtesy kits that British Airways gave away to its VIP clients until recently.
“For the different clothing, accessories and home furnishing departments in our building we choose the most exclusive from luxury brands and also from new international talents such as Farm Rio, Rixo or La doubleJ this spring. Likewise, we support British brands, from Erdem to Molly Godard,” says Caitlin Ascherl, Fashion Buyer for Liberty.
Beyond the coat racks and shelves of these department stores, this spring we see the inspiration of Liberty motifs in luxury brands such as Loro Piana and Balenciaga, and in the proposals of ready-to-wear brands such as Maria de la Orden, Sandro , Ikks or Maksu, among others. And Liberty is always attractive, as are Wilde’s verses.
