First flagship for Liberty of London

Liberty is set to launch its first flagship store for the Liberty of London luxury accessories brand.


Sited at 197 Sloane Street, SW1, the store is being designed by Liberty of London creative director Tamara Salman and Paris-based architects Pierre Beucler and Jean-Christophe Poggioli.


Design Week has obtained a copy of the plans for the newlook store, which is due to open in June. If successful, the new format will be used as a blueprint for further stores.


The design is intended to establish the brand independently of the department store. However, according to the planning documents, its design will be ‘similar to that used for the original Liberty building situated off Regent Street, on Great Marlborough Street’.


It will have a transparent glass front, with double doors in the middle that depict the Liberty crest cut out in brass, on a brushed brass base with black glossy door handles in lacquered epoxy.


The outlet, which Salman has been devel oping for three years, will be the first standalone showcase for Liberty of London, representing the expansion of the brand under chief executive Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye (DW 16 May 2007).


Salman says, ‘The new store will establish Liberty of London as a luxury retailer in its own right and create the blueprint for future stores worldwide.’ She adds, ‘The store will be super luxe and its design will reflect Liberty’s opulent past while projecting the modern and contemporary vision of the brand today.’


Salman, along with consult ancy Universal Design Studio, designed the Liberty of London boutique  in the department store’s atrium (DW 31 January 2007).


Salman says she appointed the architects, who have worked with fashion houses Comme des Garçons, Dior and Lanvin, citing their cultural work with museums like the Louvre and the Campaña Gallery.


The Liberty of London brand went wholesale six months ago, and the spring/summer 2008 collection of leather accessories, scarves, swimwear, jewellery and men’s collections has been sold to stores around the world. It is now available in London’s Dover Street Market, Paris’ Le Bon Marché and New York’s Bloomingdale’s.


Construction work at the Sloane Street site is imminent according to Liberty, while the hoarding features an image of a Liberty of London handbag.


STORE PLAN


• First flagship store for Liberty of London brand
• Based in Richmond Court, 197 Sloane Street, London SW1
• Design application filed 11 February 2008
• Current plans indicate three levels: basement, ground floor and first floor

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