The quintessentially English and super trendy London store Liberty is launching this week a limited edition collection of products with the visionary Parisian shop Merci: the Entente Cordiale has rarely been so stylish.
A year after the renaissance of the London flagship store, under the supervision of French CEO Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, Liberty keeps on going from strength to strength, having firmly evolved from dusty to directional, thanks notably to some of the most original and exclusive collaborations in fashion.
After getting artist Grayson Perry and luxury company Hermès to create special designs for the store in 2009, Liberty has started the new year by launching a capsule collection with Milanese avant-garde store 10 Corso Como in February. And this week, it is followed by a new collaboration with Parisian charity store Merci, whose creative director and founder Marie-France Cohen has designed an exclusive and limited edition collection of products using her favourite Liberty floral print designs.
The collection includes fashion for men, women, children and babies, accessories, homewares, stationary, soft furnishings and gifts: quirky, innovative, fashionable and all for charity: what is not to like?
About Merci The brainchild of Marie-France Cohen, who in 1975 founded luxury childrenswear brand Bonpoint, Merci created a fashion storm when it opened one year ago in Paris, as a huge and super trendy concept store giving 100% of its profits to a charity helping underprivileged women and children in Madagascar. Combining fashion with philanthropy, vintage with contemporary and bespoke creations with mainstream brands, Merci aims to offer a curated collection of chic fashion and furnishings, as well as a multifunctional lifestyle space that includes café, bookstore and flower shop. Like Liberty, Merci has managed to secure collaborations from sought after designers, with brands such as Yves Saint-Laurent, Stella McCartney or Paul Smith, amongst others, having accepted to create exclusive pieces for the store, sold up to 40% cheaper than in their own shops.
Merci at Liberty: Liberty, Great Marlborough Street, corner of regent Street, W1 (Oxford Circus)
Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, a French CEO for the quintessentially English Liberty
“Everything we do is edited, exclusive and adventurous”, saysGeoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, the current CEO of Liberty, which he joined in July 2007 from LVMH after four years as president of luxury house Christian Lacroix. Focusing on the inherent DNA of the brand and using its heritage as a platform for innovation, the Frenchman has thus managed to revive a rather dusty brand to create one of the most directional stores in the world.
To mark this renaissance, Liberty was officially reopened on 15th February 2009. Slumdog Millionaire’s actress Freida Pinto then inaugurated its three entirely refitted floors and brand new speciality areas including the scarf room, a fast-paced Bazaar for ultimate gift shopping, a fine fashion jewellery space and a completely redesigned womenswear international fashion offer.
Ever since this relaunch, Liberty has become a firm favourite amongst fashionistas and defied gravity with sales growth of almost 20% in the first half of 2009, a remarkable feat in the midst of a worldwide economic downturn. Liberty’s pièce de résistance for autumn-winter 2009 was a collaboration with French luxury brand Hermès to create an ephemeral shop in the Liberty scarf room, with its creative director of silks Bali Barret launching an exclusive line of scarves and ties for the British brand.
Before joining LVMH, Geoffroy held general management, retail and marketing positions at L’Oreal, PepsiCo and The Walt Disney Company. A native of Lyon, Geoffroy is married with four children qnd has lived in London for eight years, where he is a board member of the Research Centre for Fashion at Central St Martin’s College of Arts and Design in London.
Geoffrot de la Bordonnaye and some medals from the Merci for Liberty collection
