Liberty — The Fabric Hall

The numbers are real: the fabrics floor reopened on 20 July at 4,630 sq ft, up from 1,927, with 2,500 fabrics and 17 specialists; opening day beat target by 35%, fabric sales rose 11% last year, and Crafts Council research has UK craft participation moving from 15% to 20% of adults. The read is what it is being sold as. Liberty's retail director calls making “a modern expression of luxury” — but making is not a luxury category, it is the thing luxury was invented to replace. Heat this loud around a haberdashery is the mainstream arriving late to a shift the quilters and dressmakers were already living in.