Department store in London, England
Liberty
, commonly known as
Liberty's
, is a luxury
department store
in
London
, England. It is located on
Great Marlborough Street
in the
West End of London
. The building spans from
Carnaby Street
on the East to
Kingly Street
on the West, where it forms a three storey archway over the Northern entrance to the Kingly Street mall that houses the
Liberty Clock
in its centre. Liberty is known around the world for its close connection to art and culture, it is most famous for its bold and floral print fabrics. The vast
mock-Tudor
store also sells men's, women's and children's fashion, beauty and homewares from a mix of high-end and emerging brands and labels.
The store is known to spot and champion young designers at the start of their careers, and many now-prominent brands were first available at Liberty. The store played essential role in spreading and popularizing the
Modern Style
. This continues Liberty's long reputation for working with British artists and designers. Liberty’s makes a cameo appearance in
Enola Holmes
.
History
[
edit
]
Early history
[
edit
]
Arthur Lasenby Liberty
was born in
Chesham
,
Buckinghamshire
, in 1843. He was employed by Messrs Farmer & Rogers in
Regent Street
in 1862, the year of the
International Exhibition
. By 1874, rejected for a partnership, and imbued by his 10 years experience, he decided to start a business of his own. With a £2,000 loan from his future father-in-law, in 1875, he accepted the lease of half a shop at 218a Regent Street with three staff members.
The shop sold ornaments, fabric and
objets d'art’’, especially
from Japan
and the East. Within eighteen months, he had repaid the loan and acquired the second half of 218 Regent Street. As the business grew, neighbouring properties were bought and added.
[4]
In 1884, he introduced the costume department, directed by
Edward William Godwin
(1833?1886), a distinguished architect and a founding member of
The Costume Society
. He and Arthur Liberty created in-house apparel to challenge the fashions of Paris.
In 1885, 142?144 Regent Street was acquired and housed the ever-increasing demand for carpets and furniture. The basement was named the Eastern Bazaar, and it was the vending place for what was described as "decorative furnishing objects". He named the property Chesham House, after the place in which he grew up. The store became the most fashionable place to shop in London, and Liberty fabrics were used for both clothing and furnishings.
In November 1885, Liberty brought forty-two villagers from India to stage a living village of Indian artisans. Liberty's specialised in Oriental goods, in particular imported Indian silks, and the aim of the display was to generate both publicity and sales for the store.
[5]
In 1889,
Oscar Wilde
, a regular client of the store, wrote "Liberty's is the chosen resort of the artistic shopper".
[6]
During the 1890s, Liberty built strong relationships with many English designers. Many of these designers, including
Archibald Knox
, practised the artistic styles known as
Arts and Crafts
and
Art Nouveau
, and Liberty helped develop Art Nouveau through his encouragement of such designers. The company became associated with this new style, to the extent that in Italy, Art Nouveau became known as the
Stile Liberty
, after the London shop.
1920s
[
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]
The
Tudor revival
building was built so that trading could continue while renovations were being completed on the other premises, and in 1924, this store was constructed from the timbers of two ships:
HMS
Impregnable
(formerly HMS
Howe
) and
HMS
Hindustan
. The frontage on
Great Marlborough Street
is the same length as the
Hindustan
. It became a Grade II*
listed building
in 1972.
[7]
The emporium was designed by
Edwin Thomas Hall
and his son, Edwin Stanley Hall. They designed the building at the height of the 1920s fashion for
Tudor
revival. The shop was engineered around three light wells that formed the main focus of the building. Each of these wells was surrounded by smaller rooms to create a homey feel. Many of the rooms had fireplaces and some still exist.
The architectural historian
Nikolaus Pevsner
was very critical of the building's architecture, saying: "The scale is wrong, the symmetry is wrong. The proximity to a classical facade put up by the same firm at the same time is wrong, and the goings-on of a store behind such a facade (and below those twisted Tudor chimneys) are wrongest of all".
[8]
Arthur Liberty died in 1917, seven years before the completion of his shops.
Post-war
[
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]
Liberty, during the 1950s, continued its tradition for fashionable and eclectic design. All departments in the shop had a collection of both contemporary and traditional designs. New designers were promoted and often included those still representing the Liberty tradition for handcrafted work.
In 1955, Liberty began opening several regional stores in other UK cities; the first of these was in
Manchester
.
[9]
Subsequent shops opened in
Bath
,
Brighton
,
Chester
,
York
,
Kingston upon Thames
,
Exeter
and
Norwich
.
During the 1960s, extravagant and Eastern influences once again became fashionable, as well as the
Art Deco
style, and Liberty adapted its furnishing designs from its archive.
In 1996, Liberty announced the closure of its twenty shops outside London, and instead focused on smaller outlets at airports.
[9]
Since 1988, Liberty has had a subsidiary in
Japan
which sells Liberty-branded products in major Japanese shops. It also sells Liberty fabrics to international and local fashion stores with bases in Japan.
2000s
[
edit
]
Liberty's London store was sold for £41.5
million (equivalent to £70.3 million in 2023) and then leased back by the firm in 2009, to pay off debts ahead of a potential sale of the company.
[10]
Subsequently, in 2010, Liberty was taken over by
private equity
firm BlueGem Capital, in a deal worth £32
million (equivalent to £51.8 million in 2023).
[11]
TV documentary
[
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]
From 2 December 2013, Liberty was the focus of a three-part hour-long episode TV documentary series titled
Liberty of London
, airing on
Channel 4
.
[12]
[13]
The documentary follows Ed Burstell (Managing Director) and the department's retail team in the busy lead up to Christmas 2013.
[12]
Channel 4 further commissioned a second series of the documentary on 28 October 2014. This series featured four, one hour-long episodes based on six months worth of unprecedented footage. Series two commenced on 12 November 2014.
[14]
Collaborations
[
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]
Liberty has a history of collaborative projects ? from
William Morris
and
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
in the nineteenth century to
Yves Saint Laurent
and Dame
Vivienne Westwood
in the twentieth century. Recent collaborations include brands such as
Scott Henshall
,
Nike
,
Dr. Martens
,
Hello Kitty
,
Barbour
,
House of Hackney
,
Vans
,
Onia
,
Manolo Blahnik
,
Uniqlo
,
J.Crew
,
Superga
,
Target
and
T. M. Lewin
.
See also
[
edit
]
References and sources
[
edit
]
- References
- ^
a
b
"Liberty Retail Limited"
.
Companies House
. Retrieved
28 November
2020
.
- ^
"Private equity cashes in on Liberty with £300m sale"
.
The Financial Times
. 19 July 2019.
Archived
from the original on 11 December 2022
. Retrieved
28 November
2020
.
- ^
"Persons with significant control"
.
Companies House
. Retrieved
28 November
2020
.
- ^
Iarocci, L.,
Visual Merchandising: The Image of Selling
, Ashgate Publishing, 2013, pp. 120?128
- ^
"Gossamer | Made in England"
.
Gossamer
. Retrieved
17 June
2020
.
- ^
Wilde, Oscar (1889).
The Woman's World ..., Volume 2
. Cassell and Company. p. 6.
- ^
Premises of Messrs Liberty and Company Limited (Tudor building) | Grade II* listed building
1357064
- ^
Bridget Cherry
and
Nikolaus Pevsner
(1973).
The Buildings of England
? London 1: The Cities of London and Westminster
(third ed.). London:
Penguin Books
. p. 579.
ISBN
0-14-0710-12-4
.
- ^
a
b
Blanchard, Tamsin (13 June 1996).
"Has Liberty finally lost the thread?"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 14 June 2022
. Retrieved
30 May
2013
.
- ^
Fletcher, Nick (15 March 2010).
"Retailer Liberty agrees sale of flagship store for £41.5m"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
30 May
2013
.
- ^
Kollewe, Julia (28 June 2010).
"Liberty's new owner sets out plans for growth"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
30 May
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Jones, Nina (20 December 2013).
"
'Liberty of London' a Hit in the U.K."
WWD
. Retrieved
20 December
2013
.
- ^
"Liberty of London"
.
Channel 4
. 2 December 2013
. Retrieved
9 December
2013
.
- ^
"Liberty of London ? Series 2"
. Channel 4. 28 October 2014
. Retrieved
6 November
2014
.
- Sources
Alison Adburgham,
Liberty's ? A biography of a shop
, George Allen and Unwin (1975)
External links
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]
51°30′50″N
0°08′25″W
/
51.5139°N 0.1402°W
/
51.5139; -0.1402