Liberty of London returns to Channel 4

24 September 2014

 

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The doors of Liberty are flung open once more as Channel 4 returns to gain a closer look behind-the-scenes of one of London’s oldest and most iconic department stores in the run-up to the busy festive period. With unprecedented access and filmed over six months, we catch up with the work of Liberty’s cast of charismatic buyers, retail team and fabric designers to find out what challenges and opportunities the past year has brought.

This series begins with a look at Liberty’s celebrated annual ‘Best of British Open Call’ where up to 800 hopeful designers from across the UK pitch their hats, handbags, hangers and even knitted iPhone covers to the most selective and discerning buyers in the business in the hope that they will be bought for the legendary store and to gain invaluable feedback on their products.

Liberty is working hard to develop their own brand range of accessories, from handbags and wallets to scarves and crockery and the pressure is on to meet very ambitious sales targets. Looking at the Liberty fabrics side of the business the camera crew follow designer James Millar as he goes to the Liberty print archive searching for inspiration from over 40,000 different designs and observes the pressure he’s under to create new products to sit in a very competitive market place. We also reveal the stories of the women’s designer department of the store and the Private Suite personal shopping space to find out what extraordinary items Liberty’s most exclusive and colourful customers are buying.

Cameras also follow straight-talking Managing Director Ed Burstelland his tightly knit team of self-confessed eccentrics as they return to Ed’s hometown for New York Fashion Week and go behind the scenes of this glamorous and very fast-paced world.

This season the documentary follows the journey of new head of Visual Identity Liz Sylvester as she plans her first Liberty Christmas. Christmas starts in July at Liberty with a preview to the UK’s best journalists and then the pressure is on Liz and her team to deliver Liberty’s most profitable and eye-catching Christmas yet. Will the team like Liz’s new ideas and will she and her team be able to deliver them on time and under budget?

From the young girl on her first shopping trip to the illustrious store, to the high-flying New York business man who has enlisted the help of Liberty to kit out every inch of his apartment down to his own wardrobe, Liberty of London will reveal the secrets, stories and lives at work at one of the last great emporiums.

Emma Cooper, Commissioning Editor of Documentaries, Channel 4 said: “From the staff working the shop floor, to the customers who flock from around the world, to the designers who will, this season, pitch for a coveted spot on the shelves of this iconic store, Liberty is a magnet for the sophisticated, artistic and creative. We are delighted to re-join Ed and his team for more every day extraordinary stories as they gear up to the frantic crucial Christmas season.”

The series will air on Channel 4 at the end of this year.

Producer/Director: Claudia Webster and Suemay Oram

Series Producer: Mark Henderson

Executive Producer: Nick Shearman

Production Company: Rize

Channel 4 Commissioning Editor: Emma Cooper