From Fabric to Fragrance
Alison Lewis tells us how Tana Lawn cotton inspired Liberty LBTY.’s new Tana Meadow scent
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From Fabric to Fragrance
Alison Lewis tells us how Tana Lawn cotton inspired Liberty LBTY.’s new Tana Meadow scent
“I guess you could say I’m a bit of a Liberty guru!” Alison Lewis tells me, laughing. With over 30 years of service at Liberty, and 15 in the fabrics department, nobody knows Liberty quite like Alison (she even has a print named after her).
Who better to tell us about what makes Liberty’s Tana Lawn fabric so special? Tana Lawn is the quintessential Liberty textile; a smooth, airy cotton onto which all our iconic Liberty designs are printed. It’s also the inspiration behind the new Liberty LBTY. fragrance, Tana Meadow. We visited Alison in the fabrics department to learn more about the fabric and the scent.
What makes Tana Lawn so unique?
It’s the actual fibre. A cotton fibre is normally short, but with the Tana Lawn fibre, it's longer. So when it's woven, it has that lustrous, silk-like handle, and that's why it feels so great.
What does Tana Lawn fabric feel like?
When you touch it, it has that smooth, soft, luxurious handle, which is cool and airy to wear. It’s very comfortable for people to wear as clothing, and make into soft furnishings.
What does the new Liberty LBTY. Tana Meadow fragrance smell like, and how does it remind you of Tana Lawn?
It smells of pear and musk - it's divine. It has that feeling of when you're wearing a Tana Lawn dress that's blowing in the wind.
Can you tell us a little bit about the Thorpe print that's on the lid of the Tana Meadow bottle?
Well, Thorpe is a quintessentially English print. We call it a ditzy print. It was probably around the 1930s that this one was produced, so it's definitely synonymous with Liberty.
Can you tell us the story of how Tana Lawn came to be?
In 1875, when Arthur Liberty founded the company, he used to import fine printed silks and textiles from the Middle East and Asia. He wanted to experiment with dyeing print fabrics, and so he opened the print works in Merton Road in 1904. And that's how the Liberty branded fabric started. These days, Tana Lawn is designed by our in-house team at Liberty, and it's actually printed in our printworks in Italy near Lake Como. It's a beautiful factory - I've visited it myself.
What do people mostly make out of Tana Lawn?
Most of our clients make clothes; dresses or shirts or blouses. They even use it for tableware and napkins. A lot of them do patchwork as well. Tana Lawn is so cool and easy to work with - it's not a difficult fabric to sew.
Because of how it's constructed, if you feel Tana Lawn fabric, it's really smooth and cool. It's good for summer because it's light, airy and fluid. So if you live in a very hot climate, it keeps you very cool because of how it's woven. Also, it doesn’t crease very much.
And you use Tana Lawn to make your own pieces, is that right?
Yes, I do - I made my outfit today!
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