For 150 years, the Liberty department store has commissioned artists to create its distinctive fabrics — and now a new exhibition shines a light on the women who broke through social and professional barriers to design for the famous London store.
At a time when women had few routes into paid artistic work, Liberty became an unlikely pioneer, employing female designers decades before such opportunities were commonplace. To mark the store’s 150th anniversary, the William Morris Gallery in north London is celebrating those trailblazing women, even though uncovering their stories has been far from straightforward. In Liberty’s early years, the firm carefully preserved its fabric samples but neglected to record who actually designed them, leaving curators with drawers of patterns and only the faintest traces of the people behind them.
Better record-keeping finally arrived in the 1930s, revealing a generation of artists who were given early opportunities by Liberty and later established successful freelance careers. A short film features interviews with some of the surviving designers, and while no one was ever likely to criticise the company on camera, genuine warmth and gratitude comes through for the chances Liberty gave them.
The exhibition is, inevitably, rich in fabrics — but it is far from just a parade of swatches.
There are garments created from Liberty textiles, designers’ notebooks filled with sharp asides, and stories that lift the archive off the page. One memorable example is Sarah Campbell’s exasperated 1960s note about the store’s unshakeable love of paisley, offering to produce yet more “horrible bright paisley” if she must. Liberty said yes — so she did.
Such personal moments elevate the show from a catalogue of prints to a collection of voices.
A floral wedding dress by Lizzie Houghton Puddifoot, who refused to marry in white or cream, is one of many exhibits that break with convention. Yet there is also a lingering sadness: many designers today cannot discover who created the very fabrics they chose for their own work, thanks to that early gap in the archive.
Upstairs, the exhibition continues with the same playful creativity — including a 1970s living-room installation– and, in a particularly nice touch, a company history film is being shown inside a replica television set.
It’s a small detail, but a delightful one.
Visually rich and captioned, the exhibition celebrates both the named and the unnamed women who shaped Liberty’s design legacy. And if anyone can finally reveal the identity of the mysterious Mrs D. Stoneley, the curators would probably be delighted to hear from you.
The exhibition, Women in Print: 150 Years of Liberty Textiles is at the William Morris Gallery until 21st June 2026.
It’s free to visit, and if you turn up on Saturday, there’s also a newish food market in the park next to the museum.
