Why it belongs in ORBIS
Liberty's London department store brings printed fabrics and clothing together with beauty products and home furnishings. The business began in 1875, when Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened his first shop on Regent Street. Its later Great Marlborough Street building uses reclaimed ship timbers within the department store's Tudor revival design.
Liberty began on Regent Street in 1875, when Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened a shop selling goods from abroad. Japanese objects and fabrics helped establish the business's interest in design beyond the British market. Its development became closely associated with the decorative arts through textiles and the emerging Art Nouveau movement.
The later Great Marlborough Street building opened in 1924, designed by Edwin T. Hall and Edwin S. Hall. Reclaimed timbers from ships supplied material for its Tudor revival construction, including wood used within the store. That building belongs to a later chapter than the founding shop on Regent Street.
Today the London store sells clothing and beauty products alongside home furnishings and its own printed fabrics. A fabric purchase and a department-store visit therefore offer different ways into the same business. For someone making clothes or furnishing a room, the textile range provides a more specific starting point than general gift browsing. Clothing and home departments broaden the visit for shoppers who are choosing finished pieces instead of fabric.