The new collection of Liberty Art Fabrics for Spring/Summer 2014 is one of their brightest and best for a while, I think. I can’t remember the last time I was captivated by so many of the new designs, and loved so many of the colourways. Called “A Gallery of Print”, the collection is inspired by the iconic and historic Liberty store itself on London’s Regent Street. Each floor has its own capsule collection of prints, which have been chosen and designed to represent and compliment the departments on that particular floor. The 40 limited edition prints were created and curated by The Liberty Art Fabrics Design Studio and, as usual, selected guest artists and collaborators were invited to contribute, either with original designs or with reworkings of prints and designs from the Liberty archives.
A few years back I worked in central London, just seconds away from Liberty’s. It was an absolute haunt of mine, and sometimes I’d be in there more than once a day. I’m amazed I never got accosted by the security men, as I must have been on their “extremely suspicious” list – I treated the place like my own personal gallery and go-to place for colourful beautiful “looking” therapy rather than the retail sort. So I love that the new season Liberty Art Fabrics are a visual “tour” of this beautiful shop that’s imbued with so much arts and craft heritage. Let’s start at the top of the building and work our way down!
The Fourth Floor is where you’ll find furniture, lighting, the arts and crafts design department and the world famous carpet room, so the fabric prints in this collection celebrate interior design.
Ombrellino C Tana Lawn
This delicate design is a collaboration between interior designer Annabel Elliot and the Liberty Design Team. An archival 1920s print, it was chosen to represent Liberty’s Furnishing Fabric Department and is named after a house that Annabel’s family used to own overlooking Florence, called L’Ombrellino. She selected the design because it evokes memories of Italy and is reminiscent of the end of the summer holidays and going back to school. I chose this particular colourway as I can never resist turquoise paired with orange, and the pale coral of the background trees is especially lovely.
Asaka A Tana Lawn
Also from the Fourth Floor Collection is the design above by award-winning paper cutting artist Hina Aoyama who created the intricate hand-cut floral motifs to represent Liberty’s Japanese Print Department.
Poppy’s Patchwork D Tana Lawn
Moving on down to the Third Floor, we find an eclectic mix of fabric, haberdashery, children’s clothing, gifts and luxurious bath products. Poppy’s Patchwork, shown above, an archive design that was originally a Liberty scarf pattern from 1975, was chosen to represent the haberdashery department and was re-worked in-house to portray the beauty and intricacy of an old patchwork quilt. I’m also showing the other two colourways of this design below, as I’m endlessly fascinated by how different palettes of colours can change patterns:
Oscar C Tana Lawn
Next stop on the tour, it’s fashion, footwear and food on the Second Floor (what’s not to love in that mix?!) and a design that’s inextricably bound up in Liberty’s oriental heritage – a paisley pattern. The Oscar fabric design is based on a 19th Century paisley print from the Liberty Archive and represents Liberty’s International Fashion Collection. Along with the Ombrellino design I chose first, this design is on my short list of fabrics to make myself a new dressing gown. I have an old sewing pattern for a very classic, simple robe, and made up in Liberty Tana Lawn it’s fantastically cool and lightweight for the summer and super easy to pack – perfect for taking away on holidays and trips.
Summer A Tana Lawn
British design duo, Draw in Light are known for their beautiful silk screen prints. They collaborated with the Liberty Design Team to create the Summer fabric design, above. Inspired by landscapes and ordnance survey maps, printing dyes were hand painted onto silk screens and transferred to paper. Finished with a delicate tree motif, Summer represents the fashion found on Liberty’s Second Floor.
Carrie B Tana Lawn
Down yet more flights of steps of Liberty’s beautiful old wooden staircase, and we’ve arrived at the First Floor, which is dedicated to Women’s Fashion. I chose the design above as it’s so feminine but also bold and contemporary. Shapes taken from photographs of coloured inks in water were manipulated into a texture and overlaid with an archival rose print to create the Carrie fabric design, which represents the Liberty Swimwear Department.
Holly D Tana Lawn
Also from the First Floor collection, where you’ll find the Denim and Casualwear Department, is this funky and fresh design inspired by the art of dyeing and distressing denim and created from photographs of ripped and ink splattered jeans.
Ptolemy B Tana Lawn
We’ve arrived on the Ground Floor, our last stop of the tour. The street level of the Liberty store is home to the Accessories, Bag, Scarf and Beauty Halls and the Stationery Department (a particular favourite of mine) – all offering endless colourful, beautiful inspiration.
I chose the joyously flamboyant design, above, by Ptolemy Dean, who records and celebrates the characteristics of Britain’s architectural heritage and has been painting and sketching the buildings and streetscapes around him for 25 years. This geometric design represents the shop facade and is inspired by a wonderful line and watercolour painting of the clock tower in Liberty’s Tudor building.
See the entire Gallery of Prints Liberty Art Fabrics collection, or tour the wonders of Liberty London yourself online at Liberty London – and if you’re ever in London’s West End, do make sure to stop by and visit this unique, historic shop – I’ll be the person loitering suspiciously in the stationery department, or attempting the impossible by choosing just one of these gorgeous fabric designs up on the Third Floor. Hope to see you there!
Images: Liberty London
1 Comment
I like “Asaka A Tana Lawn” the best.