To discover a new era of perfumery and “new creative laboratories” as well as spark a few emotions, Liberty luxury department store in London remains at your disposal. It also boasts Europe’s longest chandelier and one of the largest collections of noses on display anywhere in the world.
Perfume historian and artist Tasha Marks’s Noseum artwork is a London landmark. The installation takes its shape from 360 individual 3D-scanned noses of customers of Liberty London’s famous Fragrance Lounge on the lower ground floor of the shop premises on Great Marlborough Street in the West End.
The famous perfume room with its fresco-esque murals is stocked with classic and prestigious brands like Amouage and Hougant as well as new, new-ish, and niche names like Brazil’s Grandado, Barcelona’s Santa Eulalia, Amsterdam’s Fugazzi, Istanbul’s Nishane, Philippe Meo’s Liquides Imaginaires and Barbara Adelmann and Hamid Merati Kashani’s Fabricca Della Musa with its Magic Maestrale.
The new French brand Bibbi (exclusive to Liberty) has the green fig Radio Child and spearmint Swimming Pool. The Paris-based parfumerie, founded by Stina ‘Bibbi’ Seger and her husband, Jan Vilhelm Ahlgren, makes evocative scents that awaken the subconscious. Each scent conveys a narrative, inspired by Stina Seger’s meditative state of mind.
New Notes sustainable and gender-fluid extrait de parfums like Latte di Cherry and Cocktail Maracuja run through dissonant choirs and eclectic dissonances, to create a disruptive alchemy rich in nuances and contrasts, with an unconventional elegance.
Work closely with Robertet, the renowned French supplier of natural raw ingredients, Nadia Benaisa Les Soeurs de Noé is inspired by childhoods spent visiting her grandparents in Morocco from her home in Belgium. Working in collaboration with New York perfumers Jerome Epinette and Pierre Wulff, Nadia describes Les Soeurs de Noé and its fragrances as symbolizing the future while honoring the past.
The name “Les Soeurs de Noé” (“The Sisters of Noé”) is a tribute to her children (Yara, Nahla, and Noé).
As well as home-grown, UK perfumers such as Maja Njie and Lynn Harris (H Perfumer), also on-trend are Nassomatto’s Black Afgano by Alessandro Guaultieri who is also responsible for the Orto Parisi line.
Liberty London’s fragrance suites smell of the emotive magic of Nostalgia, Escentric Molecules, Gucci Gorgeous Orchid, Citrus Poetry, Forbidden Nectar, Carnal Flower, Lush Linen, Angel Dust, Ouai North Bondi, L’Atelier Perfumer Douce Insomnia, Malin + Goetz Strawberry and many other high-end scents
Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened the shop with three staff in 1875. It was more of a bazaar. Ornaments, fabric, and objets d’art from around the world were instant hits. It imported Indian silks and became associated with Art Nouveau. Oscar Wilde called Liberty “the chosen resort of the artistic shopper.” Its floors are made from the timbers of two ancient ‘three-decker’ battleships. 24,000 cubic feet of ships oak timbers from the HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The workshop produced Liberty Arts and Crafts furniture. A statue of the founder stands by the Flower Shop.
Liberty has a history of collaborative projects – from William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the nineteenth century to Yves Saint Laurent and Dame Vivienne Westwood. Recent collaborations include brands such as Nike. Barbour, Scott Henshall, Manolo Blahnik and J.Crew.
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The store has scent concierges available to “decipher your dreams” and a range of Liberty LBTY house fragrances such as Gabria Chelaru’s Liberty Maze, Pierre Negrin’s Tudor (inspired by the mock-Tudor building), and Frank Voelkl’s Zepherine.
