The Making of Christmas: Behind the Scenes at Liberty
As we celebrate 150 years of the joy of making, step behind the scenes to discover how this year’s Christmas story - from glittering windows to a majestic flying ship - came to life
Read more
The Making of Christmas: Behind the Scenes at Liberty
As we celebrate 150 years of the joy of making, step behind the scenes to discover how this year’s Christmas story - from glittering windows to a majestic flying ship - came to life
As the curtain call rings on our 150th anniversary year, there’s one last celebration to unveil… and for the biggest party of them all, the status quo simply won’t suffice. This year calls for a Christmas like no other.
Step into our world of festive wonder, where nothing is quite as it seems. Our ode to the joy of making – and giving – that has stayed true across our 150 years. With a cast of extraordinary artisans and creators crafting treasures to fulfil your every wish, there’s no place like Liberty at Christmas. As our annual festive extravaganza is unveiled in store, join us for a glimpse behind the scenes; where our Liberty elves scramble and scamper, transforming our London store into a festive wonderland.
The story began way back in the sun-drenched days of August, when Liberty’s in-house visual concepts team started work to bring this year’s festive vision to fruition, working alongside a network of talented makers and creators from across the UK. After months of collaboration with retail experience experts Studio Xag and prop and costumer designers Plunge Creations, Liberty’s central atrium and windows have been transformed. Central to it all, of course, comes the creation of an enchanting character, the exquisitely crafted Liberty Christmas Elf, leading our celebrations of the most wonderful time of the year.
To find out what it takes to make it all happen, Liberty sat down with Lisa Clemenger, Liberty’s visual concepts manager; Xavier Sheriff, Xag Studio’s co-founder; and Plunge Creations’ Jess Eaton, who designed the Liberty Christmas Elf.
The Windows
This year’s Christmas story begins in Liberty’s windows, where scenes of festive craftsmanship and imagination ignite. “When it came to designing the concept for Christmas, we knew this year was especially significant - Liberty’s 150th anniversary - so we wanted to create a true celebration,” says Lisa Clemenger, Liberty’s visual concepts manager. “We explored ideas around the joy and mischievousness of Christmas and the build-up of excitement. We loved the idea of capturing that magical feeling - like a team of elves coming together to spread Christmas cheer.”
Every window is designed as a glimpse into the elves’ workshops, showing the makers at work on Liberty’s Christmas gifts. “We imagined the elves as slightly manic workaholics, constantly striving to make the best gifts and bring joy to everyone. Their environment became a chaotic but charming workspace - filled with pulleys, ropes, and twine - allowing them to keep working and living all at once. That became the heart of our story.”
Within the jewellery workshop, elves peer through magnifying glasses, setting glittering stones into rings and inspecting every gleaming piece. In the atelier, cogs whirr as elves sketch, cut, and stitch, crafting exquisite garments and accessories from the finest materials.
Elsewhere the fragrance laboratory hums with activity as elves lean over steaming vials, measuring, mixing, and distilling extraordinary scents, and in the apothecary, shimmering lotions and potions flow through copper pipes into perfectly sized bottles. Finally, under the dreamlike eaves, elves prepare the gift of a perfect night’s sleep - draping curtains, smoothing linens, sewing decadent sleepwear, and plumping cushions to create slumber so serene, not even Father Christmas could disturb it.
“We pictured them rushing around in eccentric, handmade crafts, gathering last-minute gifts, trees, and decorations - all racing through Christmas Eve to deliver joy to Liberty and its visitors,” explains Lisa.
Xavier Sherrif, co-founder of Xag Studios agrees. “The Liberty windows are always a big moment of the year - not just for Liberty, but for us too,” he adds. “It’s our chance to stop people in their tracks, to create that jaw-dropping moment.”
Discover The Christmas Shop
Liberty
12 Days of Jewellery Calendar
The Central Atrium
Walk through Liberty’s vaulted doors, and the story reaches new heights in Liberty’s iconic Central Atrium, where a handcrafted ship – The Good Ship Liberty – sails through the heart of the store. Inspired by the iconic golden galleon weathervane that crowns the store’s rooftop, the captivating vessel is suspended above the shoppers – crewed, naturally, by a team of elves. “The ship and the central atrium installation became the story’s grand finale,” says Xavier. “The idea of the “crazy Christmas craft” - the flying ship - came quite naturally. It captures the chaos and excitement of Christmas Eve as the elves deliver their gifts.”
With numerous elf-strewn windows and a mysteriously floating sailing ship, pulling off such an ambitious project was no easy feat. “We have to raise the ship into the atrium overnight, and it needs to pass through very small doors to get inside [the Liberty building],” explains Xavier. “What people see as one seamless structure is actually several carefully engineered pieces. Our brilliant project and production managers, along with our technical designers, ensure that everything fits perfectly, is safe, and can be reassembled quickly.”
“For me,” he continues, “the technical challenge is the most exciting part.” “The sheer scale and complexity are challenging, but our team works tirelessly to make sure every part links up seamlessly - and when it finally does, it’s pure magic.”
The Liberty Elf
Amongst the cogs, cauldrons, and levitating galleons, Liberty’s Christmas story revolves around the figure of a mischievous elf – a quirky character crafted by Liberty’s teams to embody Liberty’s artistic spirit and heritage of artisan craftsmanship.
Plunge Creations, the team that designed and made the Liberty Christmas elves, describe itself as a group of fearless makers and dreamers – a creative studio bringing big ideas to life in spectacular props, immersive spaces, and unforgettable experiences. Some 25 elves were crafted in total, each one shaped through the combined efforts of five members of the team, with each artisan responsible for a different aspect of the elf’s design.
Translating that concept of the whimsical, cheeky Liberty elf into an actual sculpture required a careful balance of fantasy and form, and a meticulous attention to detail. Once the face of the elf had been designed and sculpted by hand, additional heads were created as an exact replica of the initial carving, using a 3D printer to ensure each elf was identical. Throughout the process, hand-making and design remained an important element, explains Jess Eaton, a conceptual artist and designer who created the elves. “Each little body was hand-carved - a very messy job,” she says. “And all the limbs were hand sculpted.”
“The Plunge Creations team here made the patterns, and everything came together just like in the drawings,” she explains. Large pieces of fabric were gathered and ballooned to create the elves’ bloomers and collars, and swathes of Liberty fabric was cut and fashioned into leggings and sleeves, giving the elves a quirky old-world charm. “It really did feel like Santa’s workshop, with everyone focused on their part to bring the elf to life,” Jess continues. “It was lovely because when the Liberty team came to see her, they had a real, physical reaction - the same thing we’d seen in the studio!”
In the midst of the making, the Brighton-based workshop was a hive of activity, with team members hard at work on the details that would come together to make the elves. Leather cut, stitched and fixed together to make the boots, a paintbrush dipped into a palette of pinks, lilacs and blues: a plume of powder rising as an elf gets colour on its cheeks. The final steps? Fastening a plush bonnet atop the elves’ heads and releasing a drop of clear nail-polish into the eyes, bringing to life their distinct shimmering stare. “The Liberty Elf has so much charm and eccentricity,” says Jess. “I could see who the character was in the designs, but for me, it wasn’t until the face was finished and the little boots were on that the Elf really came alive.”
What emerged was a character that feels so alive - Liberty’s own guardian of festive wonder, causing magic and mayhem in our Tudor halls. “They provoke an emotional response,” adds Jess, “and that’s when you know you’ve made something special.”
Step inside Liberty this Christmas and let the magic unfold – explore The Christmas Shop, discover our enchanting windows, wander beneath the spellbinding The Good Ship Liberty, and meet our mischievous elves in person.
?fmt=auto&qlt=default&metadata=true$poieg$&w=1000&h=1300&sm=c&poi={$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.x},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.y},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.w},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.h}&scaleFit=poi)
?fmt=auto&qlt=default&metadata=true$poieg$&w=1000&h=1300&sm=c&poi={$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.x},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.y},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.w},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.h}&scaleFit=poi)
_0824_RETOUCHED?fmt=auto&qlt=default&metadata=true$poieg$&w=1000&h=1300&sm=c&poi={$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.x},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.y},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.w},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.h}&scaleFit=poi)
?fmt=auto&qlt=default&metadata=true$poieg$&w=1000&h=1300&sm=c&poi={$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.x},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.y},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.w},{$this.metadata.pointOfInterest.h}&scaleFit=poi)
