"the chosen resort of the artistic shopper"
Oscar Wildeit strikes many people as very, very weird that my favourite subject at university is history. i just love it - i lap it up - it is my bread and butter and my pudding. Give me history and I am happy, and never more so when I'm wading through journal articles in the belly of the fisher library stacks, or swotting up on anything (and everything) from prostitution in victorian london to re-patriation of assyrian bas reliefs to fashion as a class indicator in pre-revolution france. I'll read about it, learn about it and deeply, deeply love it as long as it happened about a century ago.
libertylondon.co.ukSo, then, it's really no wonder that my favourite store in the whole of the world is Liberty of London. Land's End does hold a particular place in my heart and Colette in Paris is a marvel of design, space and style, but in terms of combining my two great loves, Liberty trumps them all. For within this faux-Tudor building with its dark timber beams and vaulted ceilings lie a store literally filled with history and fashion smarts. Within this store where Oscar Wilde once walked you can peruse Dries Van Noten, shrug into a Josh Goot dress and slip into Nicholar Kirkwood heels. It is a mind-boggling headfuck to get your noggin around - the same rooms where once fob watches, ruffled shirts and waistcoats must have hung are now the ethreads of over 60 celebrated world designers, a specific 'scarf' room and yards and yards of charming liberty print as far as the eye can see.
the scarf room's display of hermes scarvesLiberty is having a bit of a moment. Yasmin Sewell - everyone's favourite fashion buyer - is creative director, and under her watchful eye (and flawless taste) Liberty has undergone a marvelous transformation. Lagging behind in the fashion stakes, Liberty has now shot forward with exclusives of Michael Van Der Ham's gorgeous sequin/leather/silk/crepe de chine piece-meal collection, Eddie Borgo jewelry and Racquel Allegra gypsy bohemia threads. If that's not enough, the shoe room alone should entice you. Think a space dedicated to shoes in the most incredible way - shoes hung from ceilings, shoes perched on the shelves of shoe cases, shoes shoes shoes (and not a drop to drink). What I loved was the room I nominated 'the aussie hang out'. Yasmin Sewell is certainly a bit of a patriot, one of the women's fashion rooms was stocked with Josh Goot, Richard Nicoll and Michelle Jank. For antipodeans with a fashion bent this store gives a lot of comfort in bizarre ways.
The best thing about Liberty, though, is the space itself. Within that Tudor building is a an atrium of light and air - the dark timber is off played with natural light and huge floor to ceiling mirrors propped up against the walls (not hanging, darling) to open up the interior. Everything is spaced out, in some rooms clothes hang on all four walls but the middle is bare save for a minimalist couch or two, leaving you free to wander and browse with relative ease. Even when packed this store is not claustrophobic, and the most clumsiest of girls (hello!) can feel relatively safe.
one of liberty's great merchandising displays. love the jungle theme!When I was there I could see Yasmin's touch everywhere. She has a light, effortless yet utterly charming way about her - the scarf room was totally her (and reminded me of the belt space in Browns she started up) - that can turn a shop into a destination. I know, I know, I'm a little biased towards my ultimate style icon Yasmin. But the fact of the matter is, she is not only truly stylish but also supremely talented at what she does (which happens to be fashion, natch). She's a buyer with true taste and vision, she was one of the first to pick up on Christopher Kane and now Michael Van Der Ham, Ileana Makri and Dress Up, and not only that but she knows how to create a welcoming and inviting space for clothes, beauty, accessories and everything in between. It's pragmatic i suppose - if people buy, her job is safe - but i truly feel as if Liberty is not hampering for your money, but hampering for your time.
Yasmin Sewell hard at work at the 'Open Call' Liberty London buying dayIf you are an artistic shopper then Liberty is THE place for you. I've gabbed on about fashion but Liberty also has everything from flowers to furniture. If you have a little thing for history then Libty is THE place for you. The store that pioneered the pre-raphaelite aesthete movement with its liberty prints and fabric peddling is too well-entrenched in British fashion history to be anything but.
But, aside from all this, if you want a shop to be more than a shop, to be an experience (and a happy one at that), that, even if it doesn't result in shopping bags, still leaves you with that giddy 'new purchase' buzz, then Liberty is the shop for you. It's a shop for shoppers, and by god, I am one of those.
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