Creative partnerships89

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CREATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

Partnerships between two brands can create something magical. In a joint creative venture, what can be produced should be something even better than what the two sides can create separately.

The idea Liberty is a beautiful London department store; it was opened in 1875, and the current shop was built in the 1920s, in Tudor revival style (known less kindly as mock-Tudor by the Modernists), from the timbers of two decommissioned battleships.

Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty brought beautiful, exotic items from all around the world and commissioned the designers of the day to create household goods for sale in his store. Liberty continues his tradition in the 21st-century.

Liberty collaborates with a surprising range of brands. In 2011, they created a bestselling range of Liberty print trainers with Nike. The Liberty print FitFlops sold out too. Liberty and the US company Target worked together to make a modern, affordable range in Liberty prints. With Apple, Liberty created covers for products including iPhones, iPads and MacBooks.Then there’s the Miller Harris Liberty fragrance, Rose en Noir, and Paris retailer Merci’s suitcases in fl oral Liberty prints. Liberty actively search for interesting brands to collaborate with; they can be huge, they can be small. What’s crucial is that their brand values mesh to create something stronger: Products that

are useful and beautiful that wouldn’t have come into being on their own.

In practice • Seek out brands with similar values to yours, people you would love to work with. • If both sides bring creativity to the project, all the better; be prepared for strong opinions. • Limited editions always have the catch-them-now-or-they’regone-forever extra added charm, and also attract interest from the press.Work with organisations that share similar brand values.