“It was a cultural exchange, and also an industry.” In the Victorian era, trade between Britain and India was buoyant, and Liberty’s forward-thinking founder Arthur Lasenby Liberty, a friend of Oscar Wilde “who had real flair and exquisite taste”, as Nothdruft tells BBC Culture, quickly expanded thanks largely to a paisley-orientated collection. Its story was part of a wider “dialogue” between eastern and western cultures at the time, says Dennis Nothdruft, the curator of the Liberty in Fashion exhibition. It was in the 19th Century that the paisley pattern first attracted a rebellious, progressive following. It is still a hugely popular motif in Iran and South and Central Asian countries and is woven using silver and gold threads on to silks and fine wools for weddings and other celebrations. The seed-like shape is also thought to represent fertility, has connections with Hinduism, and also bears an intriguing resemblance to the famous yin-yang symbol.
The original Persian droplet-like motif – the boteh or buta – is thought to have been a representation of a floral spray combined with a cypress tree, a Zoroastrian symbol of life and eternity. So what is behind paisley’s incredible longevity? Its symbolic power has probably played a part. Paisley-style shawls are shown in the early catalogues and when they started printing their own fabrics in the 1880s, paisley designs are very much in evidence.” Liberty’s archivist Anna Buruma explains: “Liberty has been associated with paisley style from the beginning when they sold fabrics, porcelain, rugs and shawls from the East. Various paisley designs were among the many beautiful prints and garments showcased at Liberty of London, an exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum that showcased the textiles of the influential design company and store. Etro, the Italian brand, has also long-used the design in its menswear, especially in suit and jacket linings.” In womenswear, too, designers from Dolce & Gabbana and JW Anderson to Raf Simons at Jil Sander have incorporated paisley in recent years. “And especially in the West following the hippie-inspired styles of the 1960s and 1970s, which have been having a resurgence of late with brands such as Saint Laurent, Burberry and Gucci adopting paisley. “Paisley has been a popular motif in fashion for centuries,” Jeremy Langmead, brand-and-content director of luxury menswear e-tailer Mr Porter, tells BBC Culture. More surprising is how paisley has endured, and how the apparently immortal print has been enjoying yet another peak of fashionability – the catwalks of London, New York, Milan and Paris have all seen a flutter or flash of it in recent seasons. That Wilde and his demi-monde friends loved paisley – the painterly textile pattern that resembles a teardrop or seed-shaped vegetable – is no surprise.
“One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art,” said the famously flamboyant Oscar Wilde, who loved nothing more than to lounge foppishly in a silk paisley smoking jacket and cravat.
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