BEHIND THE
COLLECTION
We talked to Adam Herbert, lead designer at Liberty Fabrics, to find out
more about the Season’s Greetings range and how it was created...ADVERTORIAL l eqs
How did you become a
designer at Liberty and what
is it like working for such a
renowned brand?
I became a designer for Liberty
after working for 14 years as a
textile designer for fashion and
homeware fabrics. I had always
been a huge fan of Liberty prints
from when I first started my textiles
degree course at The Glasgow
School of Art. It was a huge honour
to be offered a role to work for the
company – I think one of the best
things about working for Liberty
is that it’s such a British institution
and part of our design heritage. It’s
incredible to be part of that legacy!
How does the design process
work over at Liberty HQ –
what goes into creating a
collection like this?
First of all, we start by developing
our concept. To do so, we start
to look through our archive of
over 45,000 Liberty designs – we
are always very inspired by what
we find, and then we begin the
drawing and painting process! For
Season’s Greetings, I actually drew
up some brand new designs for
this collection including ‘Tree of
Delight’ and ‘Festive Cheer’.
How do you decide on the
final designs and colourways?
I spend a lot of time editing
designs and making sure that the
collection as a whole communicates
a look and feel that is right for the
concept. I always ensure that, while
a collection looks great as a whole,
each design can stand alone and
still be impactful. The colour for
the collection often stems from
research – it might be a painting or
a photograph I’ve seen, or even an
exhibition I’ve been to. Season’s Greetings feels
quite different to past Liberty
Christmas collections, had
you set out to achieve that
from the start?
Yes, when I started to pull together
this collection, I wanted to add
in a few unexpected surprises
to it! I loved the idea of mixing
very traditional prints such as the
Poinsettia with modern graphic
prints like Sparkling Forest. This collection features lots
of rich, jewel-like tones, do
you think these are set the big
colours for this Christmas?
I think that the jewel-like tones in
the collection have a richness to
them that are very in-keeping with
the festive time of year! I expect to
see many of these colours popping
up around the holiday period.
Working so far in advance
(including during the summer
months!), it must be tricky to
feel Christmassy – how did
you get in the festive mood?
I always submerge myself in what
I am designing, so if it’s Christmas,
I surround myself with imagery that
is going to inspire me. It’s amazing
how quickly you can get totally
lost in a collection and forget it’s
30-degrees outside!
If you had to pick out just one
design from this collection,
which would you say is your
favourite and why?
I love the ‘Tree of Delight’ design
that was created especially for
this collection – it features what
I imagine the Liberty Christmas
tree to look like. I think it’s very
whimsical and nostalgic and I love
the addition of the Liberty store
itself as a bauble!About EQS
EQS is a leading
distributor of
patchwork and
quilting products
established in
1996 to provide a
wide range of high
quality fabrics, wadding, threads and more
to shops throughout the UK and Europe who
sharea passionforquilting. To find out more
andviewtheirrangeof products head to:
http://www.eqsuk.com