Yesterday, on the greyest of February afternoons, I took a 'colourful' and welcome trip to Liberty HQ to see their new range of prints and fabrics. As delightful as ever, the Liberty collection holds a special place in my heart, my Mum made all my dresses as a child, sewn up in remnants bought on exciting trips to London and the Liberty store in Regent Street. My Mum would run up three versions of the same dress for me and my two sisters, green floral for the eldest, red for the middle and almost always blue for me! She was a whizz on the sewing machine and used to mix all the florals in all manner of patchworks sometimes making a matching outfit for my teddy! So from the heart, I really do love a Liberty print.
What really impresses me, and what people don't necessarily know, is that Liberty have been working really hard behind the scenes to make their fabrics as kind as possible. Tana lawn cotton, a firm favourite of ours, is made using Oeko-Tex cotton in conjunction with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). You can find more information on both of these certifications online, but in short this means that their cotton production is more ethical from farm, to the environment and all the way to the customer. Better farming practises used, dyes are non-polluting, and fabrics are tested rigorously to ensure they are kind and responsible at every stage.
And creatively, Liberty are unique, allowing their large creative team of 20 designers to work thoughtfully over months, hand-painting designs like artists rather than the quick digital methods of the High Street, a 'Slow Design' process that reflects the ethos of my brand. Archive prints and classics we wore and loved as children sit amongst these new designs, and each season they buy meterage tightly and with consideration, keeping prints exclusive, much like our shorter runs that prevent waste.
Our Riding House dress, is a classic Liberty floral with a cool retro feel to it, I named the design 'Arlington' after one of my favourite London squares. This dress also comes in our ever popular 'Camomile' print (more coming very soon to those waiting!)
The 'Meadow' floral for our new Camden Passage dress, evokes romantic prairie styles of the Seventies.
As for how I'll be wearing Liberty florals now, I love layering a jumper over my dresses, tights and chunky boots. My Skye jumper is roomy enough to wear sleeves underneath and adds a pop of richer colour for these transitional months. In super soft mid weight lambswool, this jumper can be worn all year round. Available in leaf green, rose red, haze blue and sunflower yellow.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Justine x