LIBERTY OF LONDON

Give me Liberty of London!

 Somehow I missed the whole Liberty of London for Target thing...must have been busy.  I, of course, was aware of the storied British fabric line, but I had always thought of L-of-L as little old lady(ish)...you know, ditsy flowers on pastel backgrounds.  Man, was I ever wrong.  A thousand apologies to you Mr. Arthur Liberty...a thousand.

Arthur Liberty, born in 1843, was the son of a draper who as a teenager became an apprentice to a draper in London.  Mr. Liberty loved all things Japanese. He convinced the department store, for which he worked, to purchase all the Japanese items that were available to them and allow him to manage the "oriental warehouse".   Thus began a love affair between fashionable London ladies and Japanese design, particularly the kimono.


With 2,000 borrowed dollars from his father in law, Arthur Liberty opened his own store across the street from the store for which he worked.  Once again, indulging his love of Japanese design, he dressed all of his shop girls in kimonos.  


Mr. Liberty began importing un-dyed silks from Asia and had them dyed in England and hand printed with wooden blocks.  By the 1920's, he had developed relationships with leading English designers of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, making his store on of the most prestigious in London, and his Liberty of London Prints sought after by fashionable ladies everywhere.

I found these Liberty of London neckties on Etsy...I think they are absolutely fantastic...would you wear these Braxton?

MAC Cosmetics issued a Give me Liberty of London collection.  Aren't these darling?

Oh my god, the scarfs!

Found this very posh snake skin design bathing suit on the L-of-L website.

 "I was determined not to follow existing fashion but to create new ones"  Arthur Liberty

 "Liberty is the chosen resort of the artistic shopper"  Oscar Wilde

I am so happy to have been so wrong about Liberty of London...L-of-L doesn't stand for Little old lady at all...I love it!
What do you think?
Have a beautiful day.
yancey