But, says fashion journalist Sasha Wilkins (@sashawilkins_), what we think of as a traditional Liberty print, with its miniature florals and winding greenery, didn’t come along until the 1920s, when Sir Arthur’s department store had opened in a mock-Tudor building on London’s Great Marlborough Street - where it remains, but now with more than 600 staff.
How Royal Family and David Bowie fell in love with London's most iconic store When merchant Arthur Lasenby Liberty borrowed £2,000 from his father-in-law in 1875 to set up a shop selling ornaments, art works and fabrics, on London’s Regent Street, he had just three staff.
Liberty prints have since been worn by royalty, Hollywood stars and musicians, from David Bowie’s blue quilted two-piece that he wore on the album cover of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust, to Princess Diana’s blue and grey floral column dress worn for her wedding rehearsal.
Even today, designs are still created entirely by hand, with intricate brush strokes building up the shapes and colours that will one day be printed onto fabric and sold by the metre in Liberty’s haberdashery department, or upholstered onto sofas, armchairs or ottomans.
“Liberty then created its own proprietary fabric called Tana Lawn, which is a long-fibre cotton, incredibly soft and silky and incredibly fine, and it takes colours beautifully.
