Richard Quinn Teams Up With Liberty London On Accessories Line

Richard Quinn made his way onto Liberty London’s radar after unknowingly subverting its classic Carline print in his MA collection in 2016. The storied West End department store offered up five more prints for his debut spring/summer 2018 collection, which he distorted, fetishised on gimp suits and presented within the restored Tudor halls of Liberty.

Now, Liberty has let Quinn loose in its archives with the brief of reimagining a selection of its 45,000 prints on a line of accessories. The Peckham-based designer chose clippings from the '60s, '70s and '90s, and then splashed his mash-up of the Hydra, Dahlia, Carline, Ellen, Daisy and Phlox florals onto 30 accessories with Liberty written across each canvas in his hand.

“Liberty has been part of setting textile and print trends throughout history, so it was a great opportunity to find undiscovered prints that have not been reworked by the house, and to bring our different styles together,” Quinn told Vogue ahead of the July 9 launch date. He referred back to the techniques he used during his first encounter with archive Liberty pieces as a graduate. “I reworked and art-worked a vintage piece of Carline fabric, and changed it into a more aggressive floral with a much larger scale and more saturation. Liberty saw this and thought it would be an interesting way to update and show off the archive.”

“His use of colour and texture captures the Liberty spirit,” Amelia Hornblow, dicector of product at Liberty, added, before hinting that the collaboration would continue beyond the new line of accessories. “Liberty London is a launch pad for new talent and will continue to discover and work with inspiring people.”

The campaign imagery incorporates the bodysuits and foil that have become Quinn signatures, and were styled by the print-master himself, with the aim of being "Insta-ready". “We had great references of contortion artists, and we played around with the idea of using a fully-printed woman. The bags were an extension of her,” he explained. His handwriting was his final stamp on the heritage brand. "I did an embroidered veil as part of my MA collection at Central Saint Martins, and a few pieces since with my writing on them. It always gets a great reaction so it was nice to bring this element to the range." Liberty London x Richard Quinn will undoubtedly get such a reaction, too.

The collection will launch exclusively in store and online on July 9 during Liberty’s store-wide “What a Liberty” campaign, with prices ranging from £70 to £695.