Prints charming

Flowery designs favoured by the Windsors... and showbiz royalty

- EMMELINE SAUNDERS

WHEN merchant Arthur Lasenby Liberty borrowed £2000 in 1875 to set up a shop selling art and fabrics, he could never have imagined the impact his brand would have on British fashion and culture 150 years on.

Liberty is famed for its beautiful floral fabrics, which were favourites of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana and even David Bowie and Oscar Wilde.

Fashion journalist Sasha Wilkins sums up the appeal, saying: "It is art translated into fabric and it always has been from the very beginning."

And at the very beginning, that £2000 investment from his future father-in-law helped Arthur establish his store in a mock Tudor building in Regent Street, London, with a staff of just three.

He soon expanded, buying the adjoining buildings, and Liberty now has 600 staff.

Sasha says the traditional Liberty print, with its tiny florals and winding greenery, did not come along till the 20s.

She says: "Originally, they were block printed on Indian cotton and brought to London.