The idea of an ultimate high-quality and good utilitarian coat, for formal occasions and also proving its versatility in adverse weather, actually surfaced accidentally some three years ago in England during one of the founder’s business trips in the form of the need to deal with frequent fluctuation in weather patterns. The first such ultimate coat, based on the concept of making a smart tailor-made sailing jacket, was the culmination of challenging requirements on quality, functionality and lack or absence of choice on the market.
Lenka Linhartová, the brand founder, was born in Prostějov that was formerly the foremost centre of producing quality clothing in Czech Republic. As she herself admits, “being surrounded by local fashion professionals means spontaneous exposure and introduction to tailoring, the learning of how to correctly choose a well-fitting clothing style, the art of selecting high-quality natural textiles, and most importantly, the ability to recognise a precision tailored-made coat or dress”. She goes on to state that for a garment to be really well-tailored, the entire preparation and production phases require highly professional approach and sufficient time.
The hobby of making her own clothes, from dresses to winter coats, during her student life gave her a valuable insight into the complexity and challenges of expert tailoring. The culmination of the thus gained practical experience is the designing and production of LIBERAL LARK coats, precisely tailored for every individual.
LIBERAL LARK are niche luxury coats designed for those who demand genuine quality with higher added value for themselves and for their standing in the society.
Unfortunately, the daily rushed routine and lack of time also influences on clothing we choose. We unquestionably need a new item of clothing, regardless of whether the old one is ruined or simply seen better days. We have an idea of what it should look like and we embark on its search, usually online or in brick-and-mortar stores. We spend a lot of time looking, but usually we just can’t find the desired garment. In the end, we usually have to make some compromises and opt for what is available, which unfortunately means lower our demands on style, quality, colours, and material. It means that we surrender to what the market dictates, instead of being able to buy what we really want. At some point we wonder whether we are still able to correctly determine what in reality a high-quality and well-tailored garment is and if it fairs well in terms of price and functionality.
The current fashion market is dominated by mass production RTW (Ready-to-wear) garments. Global brands, whether budget or luxury, offer different variants of styles, colours and quality. They all have one thing in common: huge volume of overproduction, particularly of Asian origin, the disproportionate use of poorly recyclable synthetic textiles, and style and colour governed by influencers of different categories who either really often don’t know much about tailoring or they are the so-called “global designers” of lesser or greater popularity.
What are new fashion trends? Are they really new? Who determines them and according to what criteria? If we look at the history of fashion, we are able to observe that styles or fashion always have a come-back after a certain period of time. For example, the currently popular bell-bottom jeans from the sixties or high-waist trousers from the nineties or wide jackets with rolled-up sleeves and padding as in the eighties. The only thing that changes is the quality of the material used, the place and method of production, the sale format, and above all the financial profit of producers and traders, whose task is to increase profits as instructed by the owners or investors.
However, for centuries, despite seasonal fashion influences, timeless classic styles, high-quality natural textiles in muted, moderate colours and precise tailoring have remained the same. A typical example is the trench coat, which has remained the same for over 120 years.
The rule of thumb in the pursuit of year-on-year in profit growth is to cut costs and increase sales. Through massive marketing of global textile brands, we have reached a situation where consumers are exposed to intensive fashion advertising via all available communication channels, where the true quality of material and style is almost indistinguishable, let alone other added values. These types of advertising predominantly convey the bargain price, diversity of colours and the likely resemblance to a celebrity apparel to make buyers feel almost like VIPs. Less resilient customers will eventually be convinced that it doesn’t matter whether you have natural wool or synthetic waterproof coat or that it doesn’t matter if the size does not fit exactly. According to the ubiquitous advertising message, the first place is diversity of colours, unified size from XS to XXL and the low price carrying the sticker of an exceptionally advantageous bargain. The ones without insight do not resist and buy enthusiastically. Forced adaptation to the market offer, instead of getting what we really want, has become the common mass buying pattern of consumers.
However, everything has its peak and now such trends are finally starting to change. The recent pandemic and gradual social orientation towards sustainability also helped. Manufacturers are more concerned about recyclable materials, support for local employment, analysing the carbon footprint during the product’s life cycle or meeting the ESG parameters.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the LIBERAL LARK brand main attributes are precise styling and processing, innovative natural materials and the use of new digital technologies. They are utilised in such manner that customers are able to freely choose the coat parameters in accordance with their wishes and without the instantaneous “advice” of stylists, ask for a perfectly tailored product, great price-functionality ratio, save on precious time and, last but not the least, promote sustainability.
LIBERAL LARK only uses natural materials for its coats, which are easily recyclable. You are able to choose from high-quality wool or cotton and also in combination with silk or cashmere. All linings are made of natural material such as acetate or viscose. Textiles are produced in Europe, namely in Italy, France and the Czech Republic.
Custom production is carried out in the Czech Republic in a tailoring shop with long-standing traditional procedures and the highest global standards
To make the coats genuinely ultimate and to cope with adverse weather, invisible surface treatment has been applied to the front side by using natural substances resistant to water, oil and other contamination. For greater comfort, the customer is able to choose a membrane with the fabric, which is applied to the reverse side of the outer fabric. A non-porous membrane or a nano-membrane may be selected. Both membranes have very high water column and maximum breathability values and are ranked among the highest quality on the world markets. Our application of these high-performance membranes to natural material is also exclusive, as so far they have only been applied to synthetic outdoor clothing materials. The combination of the membrane with textile materials may suggest that the coat will be stiff and heavy. Actually, it is quite the opposite; the coats are very light and, thanks to the high-quality membrane, highly breathable.
The membranes’ full functionality and the endurance of all textiles have been rigorously tested during the two-year testing of all coats in extreme weather conditions.
How can you be the proud owner of such genuinely sophisticated luxury custom-made coat?
LIBERAL LARK offers its comfortable coats configuration exclusively online, which it continuously innovates. Currently, the brand team is working on implementing 3D/AR configurator, instead of the existing 2D version.
On the liberallark.com portal, simply open the Coat page, where the e-shop will guide you through full configuration right up to payment. Once confirmed, the model you designed is sent to production and within five weeks of the transaction, the finished coat is delivered to your address. Personal measurements and the option to choose from many size variants is very important, including the individual choice of sleeve length and overall coat length. A matching hat may also be ordered for the designed coat model, which is also waterproof and, when combined with the coat, will protect you much better than the traditional umbrella.
Simply put, feel free and relaxed in any situation, whether formal or casual!
Moving on, the brand is also bringing another level of freedom, the freedom of decentralisation. In the autumn of this year, after implementing the new 3D/AR configurator, every customer will receive their 3D coat model as NFT, to confirm unique ownership and for subsequent use in the blockchain environment.
Own choice, responsibility and decision-making. These are further values that the brand supports with its strategy.
LIBERAL LARK’s participation in the semi-finals of the worldwide prestigious Luxury Innovation Awards in Geneva last year is the confirmation that it is going in the right direction.
Why LIBERAL LARK? It is a frequent question.
LIBERAL generally expresses freedom, in which generosity, impartiality, objectivity and tolerance have their firm place.
In many world mythologies, LARK is a symbol of dawn, joy, creative imagination and intuition.
In a simple figurative sense, it may mean “free bird” to some.
The well-known American writer and political scientist Francis Fukuyama, an authority on liberalism, says that only liberal democracy leads to happiness. And he also adds: “…liberalism is valued above all by those people who have spent part of their lives in an unfree society…”. We should repeat his idea very often, not only because of the history of the Czech Republic and the current unceasing attempts at supremacy of populism, but also due to the current unprecedented situation in Eastern Europe.
Photo: freepik.com