Why make do and mend is sew on trend
As some stores cut back the haberdashery, Liberty London is going full throttle with its new ‘Makery’, says Talib Choudhry
When Paula Nickolds, the incoming managing director of John Lewis, announced that she intended to cut back the store’s haberdasheries in favour of “experiences” such as prosecco bars and bikini waxes, there was uproar among those who held the fabrics department dear – as well as those who had never stepped a foot inside.
The decision seemed emblematic of the triumph of throwaway consumerism over the make-do-andmend mentality of our forebears and oddly out-of-kilter with the recent resurgent popularity of crafting. Ironically, Nickolds, a John Lewis lifer, started out in the haberdashery department and was swift to clarify that it wasn’t curtains for cards of ribbons and spools of thread, but rather a nip-and-tuck in line with a broader sweep of modernisation.
In light of the fabric furore, the business bigwigs at iconic London department store Liberty must have thought carefully before unveiling their freshly revamped haberdashery earlier this month. Newly christened The Makery, the much-loved department has been expanded in size by a quarter, with more than 600 new product lines and an emphasis on encouraging customers to get crafty at the Liberty Sewing School.
“Our haberdashery is one of the most popular things in the store, and sewing classes regularly sell-out,” says Mary-ann Bartlett Dunkley, head of design at Liberty Art Fabrics, who is currently developing clothing patterns with high-profile fashion designers. “We have very loyal customers and we’re trying to bring in a younger audience too. The things people are making are now more fashion-led.”
Liberty has been synonymous with fabrics and dressmaking since 1875, when Arthur Liberty opened his shop on Regents Street selling coloured silks and exotic objet d’art. In 1904, he brought a printing mill and began to produce his own Liberty art fabrics, which became world-famous and are more popular than ever today.
Before joining Liberty last year, Bartlett Dunkley worked at Paul Smith for 17 years, regularly using Liberty print fabrics in ready-towear collections, just as many other fashions brands do, including Hermes, Kenzo and Marc Jacobs.
The revamp of the humble haberdashery is part of a wider business strategy to capitalise on the burgeoning crafts and embroidery market: Bluegem, the private equity firm that owns the heritage department store, reportedly spent £68million in April buying 137-year old French yarn company DMC, Wakefield-based spinning firm Sirdar and Wool & The Gang, an online firm that sells kits with patterns by top designers, such as hats by Giles Deacon.
Back in-store at Liberty, The Makery is hosting a series of events such as contemporary cross stitch classes with Emily Peacock, whose colourful kits have a cult following. The department also stocks craft artists’ work including fantastical creatures fashioned from feathers, beads and golden thread by Susan Horth, and framed textile artworks from Margo Selby, hand-woven from her Whitstable studio.
“I really think that this department is making crafting seem cooler – even the name The Makery sounds less fuddy-duddy than haberdashery,” says Selby. “Seeing all these beautiful fabrics and textiles artists making things is so inspiring. It connects back to that whole thing of people seeking a slower lifestyle and investing time in making things rather than rushing around and doing fast fashion, convenience food and consuming for the sake it.”
The layout of The Makery is designed to encourage customers to browse, try things out on vintage Singer machines and seek the advice of the well-trained staff.
“The space is supposed to be laid-back and somewhere that you can happily spend a lot of time,” explains Rana Haddad, press officer at Liberty. “We want it to feel like a crafting community. We have brilliant expert staff here and they are always on hand.”
Norfolk-based designer Petra Boase is aiming to appeal to a more youthful audience, using her jolly patches (think cartoon-like apples, unicorns and swans) to customise clothes during workshops at Liberty.
“Micro-embroidery is very now,” says Boase. “My daughter Florence is 13 and she’s so dexterous – she bought a denim skirt and embroidered an eye onto the corner of a pocket. That generation are used to emojis and customising with stickers. This is an extension of that.”
No doubt the immediacy of iron-on patches holds appeal for the Snapchat generation, although Boase is championing a technique she calls “stitch tattooing” – layering stitches over the top of patches.
“It’s like drawing with threads,” she says. “It’s similarly therapeutic to colouring-in books but more satisfying because stitching has permanence. I’m on a mission to get kids sewing and doodling on clothes. Whereas I grew up with knitting, my daughter’s generation are growing up with stitching.”
That’s not to say that knitting has fallen out of favour – according to Google Trends, searches for knitting have increased by 53 per cent over the past year in the UK. West Yorkshire-based yarn firm Rowan is gearing up for its 40th anniversary next year, and exports to the US, Australia and Japan are booming.
Rowan recently launched a range of patterns for chunky-knit jumpers, scarves and hats aimed at younger, more fashion-conscious knitters and will debut its first ready-to-wear collection this autumn. “We’ve made sure that the designs are on-trend and desirable,” says Sharon Bryant, managing director of Rowan, about the clothing that is currently being knitted by a small army of British ladies. “They’re still very much handmade – just by someone else.”