Yesterday a plaque was unveiled on Heddon Street, just a stone’s throw from our Regent Street store. After Baker Street it is the second place in London to hold a plaque dedicated to a fictional character. This one’s for Ziggy Stardust: David Bowie‘s eccentric creation; a starman fallen to earth. And most importantly, in our eyes anyway, this space invader was rather fond of Liberty Art Fabrics,
“Ziggy Stardust was a cockney — recorded, photographed and last sighted in W1. Even his costume was stitched from cloth bought in Liberty’s — and today he has become one of London’s great fictional characters.” Gary Kemp
The spot marks the place where Bowie shot the cover for “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”. Why not take a look for yourselves, then pop across the road to our Haberdashery to make a Ziggy inspired outfit of your own! We think he would have loved this season’s Sandalwood paisley print.
If you’re after something a little different for your summer wardrobe, we think a bespoke Liberty Print dress is most definitely in order. Visit our haberdashery now, and our expert staff will help you choose a pattern, fabric, and advise you of any extras you might need. Or, if you’re a dab hand on the sewing machine, simply order one of our fabrics online and we’ll deliver it to your door. There’s even better news: our new season prints are now available as Ganton cotton jersey, Taormina voile, silk satins and crepe de chine as well as our luxury Tana Lawn cotton. The above dresses feature the Milliner print in crepe de chine (left) and TV Ted in Tana Lawn cotton (right), modelled by the lovely Laura Bailey:
“I loved both the traditional and modern floral patterns, but I wanted something more modern, graphic and unexpected. I was so thrilled with the result. The cuts of both dresses are as impeccable as you would expect from made-to-order, but the fabric makes them personal and extraordinary.
Both timeless and totally modern, I will cherish my Liberty Art Fabric dresses, the story behind them and the summer dancing nights ahead.”
This is the year of the water dragon, and to celebrate we’re offering you the chance to win 3 metres of our Eastern inspired Dragonista fabric. The print is from our new Spring Summer fabrics collection, an archival design chosen by the antiques guru Martin Miller. Martin added a twist to the original by incorporating antiques of his own into the Liberty design, which was originally a ‘Chinoiserie’ style print for a Liberty scarf dating back to the early 1990s.
“In effect, it’s like taking a static work of art into a form that gives it movement and vitality. The iconic brand of Liberty is renowned for blending the classic with the modern which both complements and appeals to my style, and I am excited to be part of this wearable, living collection.” Martin Miller.
To win simply answer the following question:
Our founder Arthur Liberty was born on the 13th August 1843, an inspiring Leo, but which Chinese Zodiac animal would he have been?
Click to post your answer on our Facebook photo. Entries close at 4.30pm today, with the winner announced on Facebook at 5pm
Our new season Liberty Art Fabrics have arrived! Our fine Tana Lawn cotton has once again been transformed with a range of sensational prints, from statement brights produced in collaboration with textile designer Zandra Rhodes to classic archive florals reprinted and reinvented to our second digital capsule collection of rich high definition prints.
The collection was inspired by archives, antiques and costume; with wide ranging influences from a trip to Glencot House in Somerset, paintings at the National Gallery and the antiques collection of Martin Miller.
This year’s collaboration with textile students from Central Saint Martins was based around iconic films including Shanghai Express and A Clockwork Orange. We’re particularly fond of Powell, a lace design with cats emerging from within the pattern. It was inspired Sylvia in La Dolce Vita who wore a provocative lacy top and behaved in a feline manner.
Also be sure to look out for our Olympic motifs which run through some of the prints – from five Olympic rings in Meg’s Garden to a torch emblem in Eternal Flame.
This week we’re celebrating Wool Week. The Campaign for Wool was initiated by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who had observed that the wool industry was facing enormous and unprecedented challenges. The Campaign is multi-national, multi-sector and inclusive, and tries to embrace all sections of wool users from the very largest companies to specialist artisans.
As part of Wool Week here at Liberty, students of Royal College of Art were given a design brief by Marie Wallen of Rowan Yarns to design their own wool garment. Last night we hosted an event in store for the student finalists to showcase their work before we announced the winners.
Olwen Walsh claimed first prize with her creation which was a “unique interpretation of the fisherman’s jumper, intertwining and overlaying stitches.” Olwen’s design will be displayed in one of our windows throughout the week, so come and see her beautiful knitted creation for yourself!
