Culture, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Tourism

Liberty of London has launched a new artistic collaboration between Creative Director, Tamara Salman, and legendary musician and acclaimed artist Ronnie Wood (from band Rolling Stones). Based on a keen admiration for each others’ work and a common tendency to rock the boundaries, Salman has created a collection that translates a selection of Wood’s vibrant paintings from canvas into prints onto leather, cotton, jersey, foil and nylon.

The “Ronnie Wood for Liberty of London” limited edition line continues a tradition of artistic collaborations established by Liberty’s founder, Arthur Liberty, in the late nineteenth century. In the past, famous architects and artists had contributed to the Liberty heritage but never, until now, had someone with such a powerful musical background, who is also a very talented artist, put their stamp on a project of this magnitude.

“I wanted to work with Liberty of London because of the great tradition that Liberty has of artistic collaborations going back to its very early days. It’s inspiring for me to work with such a prestigious British company that has, in the last century, worked with amazing talents such as William Morris and A. Knox – so I’m very excited to have completed my first collection with them.” – Ronnie Wood.

The collaboration came about after a casual encounter between Wood and Salman in the Liberty flagship store. They soon discovered that they had a lot in common in terms of their artistic pursuits. Salman said: “He invited me to see his paintings, which I immediately fell in love with and which inspired me to turn into prints for an exclusive range for Liberty of London. I particularly liked his vivid use of colour, the presence of floral patterns in his design, which is very Liberty and the undeniable influence of rock n’ roll”.

Three of Wood’s paintings are the star prints of this capsule collection. The first is “I Feel Like Painting”, which according to Wood resulted from ‘the day when I decided to turn my life around’. A definite bohemian, yet decadent feel is juxtaposed by vibrant, vigorous tones of reds, yellows, blues and orange. “Orchid”; a beautiful painting of the flower with some very Oriental influences evident in both the colours and brushstrokes. The third one is “Hawaiian Guitar”, which mirrors the influence of music and the rock n’ roll lifestyle of its creator.

The capsule collection includes men and women’s ready-to-wear as well as an extensive line of fashion accessories. For women, Salman has designed elegant stretch cotton shift dresses, jersey batwing dresses and racer-back t-shirt dresses emblazoned with different tones of “Orchid” and “I Feel Like Painting”. Accessorise any of these with an “I Feel Like Painting” clutch for the perfect day look. Also in the collection are foiled or pigmented t-shirt dresses in bright purple, sky blue, orange and green, which dressed up with a large leather shopper with the “I Feel Like Painting” printed on muted brown and crimson leather create an instant rock-chic look.

The subtle feminine touch of the fold-over leather clutch and the line of purses with their distinctive zip-pulls with Wood’s engraved signature perfectly compliment the line of unisex items including scarves in cashmere and silk chiffon, weekend holdalls and shirts. For men, t-shirts and cotton button-up shirts quote ‘I Feel Like Painting’ in graffiti like brushstrokes. Long-sleeved black or white v-necks – some of Wood’s favourites – are stamped with the “Hawaiian Guitar” print. Fusing rock & roll and fashion whilst revisiting the brand’s tradition of avant-garde floral patterns, the collection is a cauldron of mixed-media innovation.

The collection is available at luxury retailers worldwide, ranging from Liberty and Harrods in London, Isetan and United Arrows in Japan, Brown Thomas in Ireland, Corso Como in Italy and Seoul and Traffic, USA.

Boutique mondolini is the only store in Latvia where it is possible to buy this exclusive collection. The owner of the boutique Anna Rācenāja told us: “As our few collections are also designed by famous Latvian persons, it’s interesting to present other brand which has the same strategy, in this case – famous worldwide musician Ronnie Wood.

“When we got this collection we were sure that there will be a huge interest from our clients, and it came true” told Madara (second partner of the boutique). “Aim audience? – starting from teenagers and ending with people in mid age. Everybody who loves Rolling Stones plus everybody who loves stylish and exclusive clothes”.

Collection is colorful and modish. If somebody has not yet decided what to present to Your girlfriend/ boyfriend, mother/ father, son/ daughter, this is a good idea and opportunity to present something original.

We are waiting You in our boutique mondolini – in Berga Bazars (Riga)!

For more information, collection photos and galleries please see www.mondolini.lv