Prints Charming: Liberty London Unveils A Dreamy New Textiles Collection
The high-end fashion and luxury department store’s iconic fabrics bring a whole world of possibilities to customers in the Middle East
With travel plans on hold, take a trip around the globe with this exclusive look at the new Atlas of Dreams collection from Liberty London’s Liberty Fabrics. Exploring four diverse landscapes, the heritage brand captures the beauty of lush green rainforests, the fresh serenity of country meadows, the mystical wilderness of desert dunes and the playful charm and nostalgia of seaside trips to the coast.
Silks, linen and Liberty’s famed Tana Lawn cotton are host to 60 designs that celebrate the planet, using techniques such as watercolour washes, pencil illustrations, cut stencils and gouache paint. The collection honours the wanderlust of the brand’s global customer and indeed their love for Liberty Fabrics, an adulation that has seen exponential growth for the company within the Middle East.
Liberty’s online revenue for the region is up 619 per cent yearon-year since lockdown, and for Liberty Fabrics specifically it is up 595 per cent. The universal appeal of the designs, and the functional adaptability of the textiles, have long made the fabrics the popular and refi ned choice for modest dress, such as abayas, in the region.
Harper’s Bazaar Arabia spoke exclusively to Mary-Ann Bartlett Dunkley, Design Director at Liberty Fabrics, about working in the legendary Liberty London building, selecting the right patterns each season and the Middle East’s love affair with the fabled brand…
Tell us about your role at Liberty and what it involves…
I direct a team of textile designers, inspiring them and guiding them in the creation of new artwork which will become part of the Liberty print archive. I also work with our in-house archivist, Anna Buruma, who helps us to dive into the archive for inspiration for each seasonal collection. I’ve been at Liberty for five years and work with brands from all countries and markets, from childrenswear in Paris, menswear in Milan and fabric stores in the Middle East.
What do you love most about textiles?
They are everyday and luxury; they can be both beautiful and useful. Everyone has a relationship with textiles, and I love the way that they can be used to show your personality. Something that I love in particular about Liberty Fabrics is the way they hold memories for people, particularly childhood memories, and feel familiar.
Navaho designs on Tana Lawn textiles give a desert-days feel
What are your personal favourite designs?
That can change on a daily basis depending on mood, occasion or the weather! A good design has to have flow and rhythm, and colour plays an enormous part. I love to see someone wearing a print that reflects their personality, highlights their mood or character, or defines a room set. Often I will remember someone by the textiles they are wearing, rather than if they wear glasses or the colour of their hair!
Where are the fabrics designed?
Pre-Covid, we worked in a busy creative studio with textile designers, fabric specialists and archivists, connected by a bridge to our beautiful and famous London store on Regent Street. Working at Liberty Fabrics, you have the sense that you are a small part of a wonderfully rich history. It is such a privilege and responsibility to honour the Tudor beams, and the whole team takes great pride in that mission. Post-Covid, we have had to adapt to working and communicating from home, I moved from Islington, North London to be by the sea in Brighton the day before the country was locked down so it was nice to be in a new place to find creativity in fresh surroundings. Now, we still work from home but meet in London once or twice a week to see designs and work together – wearing Liberty Fabrics face masks of course!
Talk us through the design journey of a fabric…
It is a colourful journey that involves lots of eyes, conversations, opinions, expertise and incredible dedication to achieve the finest result possible. Since Covid, there is so much to miss about this journey: the energy of London, colourful activity and conversations in person, but we are lucky that we have such incredible technology and creative minds that are dedicated to finding solutions in challenging times.
What is the most enjoyable part of the journey?
The journey from a concept or idea to a mark on a page, then people, process and passion. Each step is engaging, and often emotional. I love the sense that, as a team, we are creating just the first part of the story. It is exciting to meet customers and discover their passion for something we were a part of; to create something that people enjoy and often treasure is an inspiration.
Tell us about the relationship between Liberty Fabrics and the Middle East region…
We have a long-standing relationship with the Middle East. Arthur Liberty travelled far and wide in the late 1800s and began collecting textiles that still live in the archive, with treasured influences from cultures all over the world. We have specialists in our design team who work as colourists specifically for this region, and they also adapt compositions and scales and create new designs to ensure they are perfectly suited to the market.
Who is your customer in this region?
In drapery stores we develop exclusive colourways and often bespoke designs for varied tastes and styles. Customers know the quality of our fabrics, in particular Tana Lawn cotton – the way it feels and looks. There is a trust, respect and enjoyment that they understand very well. They know how to sew and create with it.
Bold colours and prints make up the new collection
How has this regional customer base grown over time?
The popularity of Liberty Fabrics has grown with the increased appetite for original designs full of exquisite detail. As every design in our collections begins as a hand-painted or drawn artwork, our customers appreciate the time and quality devoted to each design.
Tell us about the link between your fabrics and abayas…
Tana Lawn is a silk-like cotton so it is the perfect fabric to wear in all weathers; it is comfortable and breathable and the colours of the printed fabric are so vibrant that when you just see a cuff or a collar it is rich and beautiful. We create fabric for customers to buy, and they continue its creative journey into finished pieces.
What about these designs will appeal to the Middle East customer?
The region is drawn to the rich history of Liberty and its unique design aesthetic. For SS21 – Atlas of Dreams – the collection provides a sense of escape: from exotic botanicals to a desert rose. Recently we have found a significant growth in designs featuring quintessentially English florals. In our last collection, the popularity of our large-scale poppy prints was remarkable. Each season we include English florals such as roses and daisies. Our Felda design for SS21 celebrates English wildflower meadows and has been painted in delicate washes of watercolour, whilst the oilpainted Cosmos celebrates the enduring beauty of the Anemone flower.
The Atlas of Dreams collection is available from Libertylondon.com from the end of November and from international draperies from February.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s November 2020 issue