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Liberty Letters: Pentagram-inspired capsule collection turns fonts into fashion

Pentagram partner Harry Pearce has collaborated with luxury London designer department store Liberty to create an exclusive capsule collection which features experimental typographic patterns on bags, scarves and a range of fabrics.

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Collection of black and white design samples showing experimental typographic patterns including grids, lines, waves, dots and letterforms on paper sheets arranged on a dark background

Looking to update your summer wardrobe with designer items boasting a typographic twist? Liberty Letters could be the collection for you. Boasting 21 items made by Liberty and Pentagram, the range of items on offer is a bold collision of colour and form that result in endless typographic patterns.

Fonts and fashion might sound like strange bedfellows on paper, but remember that Pentagram recently created a new visual identity for the 148-year-old brand. This included a new logotype adapted from the lettering in the original sign above the Great Marlborough Street storefront, plus the bespoke Lasenby Sans font.

Close-up of the Liberty x Pentagram collaboration showing abstract geometric pattern in pink and orange tones featuring typographic design elements
Colourful tote bags with typographic patterns featuring the Liberty sans letterforms against a black and white patterned background
Liberty Portrush brand label stitched onto orange and white geometric patterned fabric from the Liberty Letters capsule collection
Woman wearing sleeveless dress with abstract typographic pattern in sage green and blue tones, shown with close-up detail of the fabric print

It's this font which makes a reappearance of sorts in Liberty Letters. Created in collaboration with Colophon type foundry and named after Liberty founder Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty, the Liberty sans letterforms have been cleverly transformed into colourful designer patterns.

Working to a brief from Liberty Fabric's design director, Mary-Ann Dunkley, which instructed them to play without any strategic outcome in mind, Pentagram set about making something in the spirit of 'unapologetic eccentricity'. Fitting, really, seeing as this ethos is at the heart of the Liberty brand manifesto.

The result is a capsule collection where every aspect of the Liberty sans font has been refitted for fashionable purposes. Keen eyes will spot how the negative spaces and stems of the letters have been broken down and rearranged into patterns, although even if you don't spot these Easter eggs, the collection is a visual delight.

Liberty × Pentagram capsule collection logo overlaid on fabric featuring abstract geometric and typographic patterns in navy and mauve tones
Two cards displaying the Liberty and Pentagram logos laid flat against a background of orange and red geometric typographic patterns
Navy and cream Liberty Letters tote bag featuring experimental typographic patterns with overlapping letterforms and geometric shapes
Colourful woven textile featuring geometric patterns in red, blue, green and white, rolled to show the repeating design of the Liberty Letters collection

Launching with a special scarf created for Pride, the Liberty Letters collection is designed to expand over the coming years. Everything will be available to order online and pick up from Liberty's London store, with a collection of bags, scarves and fabrics currently in the works.

"What's so pleasing about this endeavour is the brand's ability to create authentic products directly from its core identity," says Harry.

"The Lasenby Sans font adapts, allowing multiple re-interpretations of abstract typographic patterns into infinite numbers of fabrics. Liberty has always been as much a maker as a retailer, and hopefully, this project is the epitome of that spirit."

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