London has some of the best known department stores in the world. Harrods is known the world over for its luxury shopping, and Selfridges has been known as a pioneer in department store organisation and marketing from the start. However, the Liberty London department store is quite incredible as well. Arguably, it is visually the most “English”, with a Tudor revival flagship store in London’s West End. Today I’m going to be exploring the history of Liberty London, as well as what you can find there today!
Although it is an excellent replica Tudor building to quickly look out, the Liberty store in London obviously is not from the Tudor period. However, it still holds a place in British retail history. You may have seen a Liberty Print on a S’Well bottle, or a J Crew piece recently. Or you may have seen a picture of this very building. (It is quite popular on the ‘Gram.) I knew that I had to visit Liberty on this London trip, and I’m quite happy that it did- it was certainly a retail experience!
The Beginnings of the Liberty London Department Store
Liberty was founded in 1874 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty, a Chesham merchant. He worked for Messrs Farmer and Rogers at their store on Regent Street, and was inspired to open his own store after 10 years of working for them. In 1874, he opened a half shop on Regent Street himself, selling ornaments and fabrics from the Far East. Within a year and a half, he had expanded to a full shop. In 1884, Liberty decided to include a costume department in the shop. Interestingly, he specifically set out to rival the designers working in Paris at the time, working with Edward William Godwin (a founding member of The Costume Society.)
In 1885, Liberty brought in villagers from India to be a rather living-village of artists. He particularly promoted Indian silks, and wanted to drive customers to the store to see their wares. Given that we still know Liberty London today for their silk and cotton printed fabrics, I would argue that he cemented a Liberty tradition when he did that. (Though I would like to think that we have recognised you shouldn’t import people to be a living zoo…) And in the 1890s, Liberty’s store became closely associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement in England (which later spread), and the Art Nouveau style. He worked with designers like Archibald Knox to further develop these movements, and Art Noveau is so closely associated with Liberty that it is known as “Stile Liberty” in Italy.
Liberty London Department Store (As We Know It)
Liberty London is known now worldwide for its impressive Tudor style shop on Regent St. The store that we know today was built in 1924, so that improvement work could be done on the original shop. It is a Grade II listed building, and has quite the interesting materials. The store was built from the timber of HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. (And the store front that you see on Great Marlborough Street is actually the same length as HMS Hindustan!) So, although it most certainly is not an actual Tudor building as the architects may want you to believe, it does have its own fascinating (albeit much younger) history.
The store is six storeys tall, and features different smaller rooms that branch off from the main atrium. If you have the chance, look out into the atrium, you will get a wonderful cross-section look at the store. Because it is a luxury store, the rooms tend to feature one or two different designers. It is an interesting experience as a shopper, because a lot of the displays are much more involving than a typical department store. The Tudor styling carries throughout the whole of the building, so it is a lot of fun to even just look at the store itself.
Shopping at Liberty London
I knew that I mostly wanted to visit the store to see it, not to buy much. (I had already visited several Cath Kidston stores, as well as Longchamp…) However, I did still look at a few different things. I personally love the Liberty London floral printed fabrics, but I find them very overwhelming to wear as a shirt or a dress. (The J. Crew dress shirts that feature the Liberty fabric on the cuffs or collar is the perfect balance.) I did get the Liberty London Colouring Book, because it is quite small and portable, and the floral prints are relaxing for anyone to colour. (At £10, it is not the cheapest colouring book, though…) I also got myself a cheeky Crown Jewels card that is just for decoration, but still entirely perfect. They have a cute stationery shop that is good for smaller purchases if you are looking for something to remember the store by.
Have you shopped at the Liberty London department store?
Cheers,
The Historian
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