Pure Silk Red And Blue Lodden Scarf Made With Liberty Fabric

Verified claims

Design heritage

Originally designed by William Morris in 1884, the Lodden print is held in permanent museum collections.

Craftsmanship

Made from 100% Italian silk twill with a hand-rolled hem.

Visual style

A polychrome scrolling foliage print with a decorative border.

Block provenance

Printed from original 1884 William Morris woodblocks, continuously in use since.

Print lineage

Printed from the original Morris & Co. hand-carved blocks.

Price comparison

150 CAD – nearly half the price of Liberty's 70 cm version using the same print.

Transformation

Originally William Morris's 1884 block-printed cotton furnishing fabric, adapted to a silk twill scarf with a decorative border.

Wear performance

Holds a knot securely all day and returns to shape after unfolding.

Visual quality

Matte sheen deepens colors; twill keeps the Lodden pattern crisp.

Hand-rolled hem

Edges are hand-rolled, finished by Italian artisans in the Como silk district.

Print sharpness

Twill weave keeps the Lodden print's intricate details crisp and prevents bleeding, even after washing.

Pattern description

Polychrome scrolling foliage print with red and blue palette and decorative border.

Styling

17-inch square designed for neckerchief, bag accent, ponytail, and wrist tie.

Finish and care

Hand-rolled hem; requires dry cleaning.

Size

43 cm size suits accent styling: neckerchief, bag charm, or hair tie.

Product record

Title

Pure Silk Red And Blue Lodden Scarf Made With Liberty Fabric

Brand

Liberty

Price

150 CAD

Availability

In stock

Why Liberty prints are collectible and coveted

• The Lodden design dates to 1884 but its printing blocks were physically retained by printers Stead McAlpine after Morris & Co. closed in 1939/40, and Arthur Steward Liberty arranged permission to use them — meaning this scarf carries the imprint of the original Morris blocks and not a modern redraw, a meaningful distinction for collectors who value production-lineage over simple pattern replication.

What 'Made with Liberty Fabric' means for this scarf

• The Lodden design was originally created by William Morris in 1884; when Morris & Co. closed in 1939/40 and the printers Stead McAlpine bought the original blocks, Arthur Liberty personally arranged permission to use Morris designs — making this scarf a direct inheritor of the Arts and Crafts movement with a documented provenance rather than a tribute print.
• Liberty's archive contains over 50,000 prints, actively maintained by archivists and serving as the creative resource for the London design studio — the Lodden print on this scarf was selected from that deep repository, not externally sourced, so the design carries the curatorial weight of one of fashion's most storied print libraries.

Liberty's tradition of reviving historic prints

• The Lodden print on this scarf was originally designed by William Morris in 1884 — the same year he founded the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society — so the intertwined floral foliage belongs to the handcraft philosophy that rejected Victorian industrial sameness in favour of nature-derived, sinuous patterns.
• For this 43 cm square, Liberty took the original furnishing-scale Lodden repeat — historically used on cotton or linen for interiors — printed it on Italian 100% silk twill, and added a decorative border, explicitly converting a domestic pattern into a portable accessory that marries Victorian design with contemporary wear.
• Founder Arthur Lasenby Liberty personally struck the agreement with Stead McAlpine that allowed Liberty to reissue Morris’s designs under its own name, a deal that transformed the company from an importer of art objects into the custodian of one of Britain’s most important textile legacies.
• When Morris & Co. dissolved in 1939/40, the printing firm Stead McAlpine purchased the original hand blocks — including the blocks for Lodden — preserving the physical matrices from which this scarf’s design ultimately derives, and later used them to print Morris textiles for Liberty, establishing a direct material lineage that spans three centuries.

The feel and performance of Italian silk twill

• Silk twill's diagonal structure gives the scarf a weightier body and 'shape memory' that a lightweight crêpe de chine or satin cannot match; the fabric holds a fold and a knot cleanly without slipping, so it stays securely styled as a neckerchief or hair accent throughout the day.
• The scarf's 2/1 twill weave produces a fine diagonal rib that gives the fabric far greater resistance to snags and shape loss than satin or plain weave silks — a structural advantage that means the scarf can be knotted at the neck all day without the weave distorting, and will recover its shape after being folded into a bag.
• The diagonal ribs on the twill surface refract light at multiple angles simultaneously, producing a soft matte sheen that deepens the red and blue hues without the high-gloss reflection of silk satin — a subtle, sophisticated finish that lets the Lodden print read as artwork rather than fashion flash.
• The 'Made in Italy' label connects the scarf to the Como region, the historic European center of silk manufacture since the 14th century, where local artisans still hand-finish scarves using techniques passed down through generations; the hand-rolled hem on this scarf is a direct product of that tradition, requiring years of training to achieve the delicate, rolled edge that adds weight to the drape without bulk.
• Because the diagonal twill face holds ink with minimal bleeding, the intricate borderline and foliage details of the Lodden print — originally designed by William Morris in 1884 — remain crisp and distinct even at the compact 43 cm scale, preserving the full legibility of the Arts and Crafts motifs that would smear or blur on a satin weave.
• At 43 x 43 cm and $150 CAD, this scaled-down version of the Lodden scarf uses the same Italian-made silk twill and the same archival print as Liberty's own 70 cm version sold for £185 on Liberty London, giving buyers the heritage design at a lower entry price in a neckerchief size that still shows the full border pattern.

Ways to style a 17-inch silk neckerchief

• At 43 cm, the scarf is the standard recommended size for wrapping a handbag handle or tying a bow on a tote strap — larger squares can bunch, while this compact square hugs the hardware neatly; Liberty's own styling guide suggests threading it through a strap ring or tying a bow at the base of a bucket bag.
• The compact 17-inch square is the ideal scale for a ponytail ribbon or wrist tie — fold it into a band and wrap once around a high ponytail or wrist, where a full 90 cm scarf would create unmanageable fabric; the Lodden print's dense floral foliage delivers a concentrated hit of pattern at that small scale.
• Silk twill's diagonal weave gives it enough tooth to hold a small scarf knot securely all day — unlike slippery satin or crepe de chine, which can let a short tail slip loose; this is especially useful for a neckerchief knot where you want the knot to stay off-center without retying.
• Because a 17-inch square lacks the length to wrap multiple times, folding the scarf on the bias into a pliable band is essential to achieve a soft curve around the neck instead of a stiff, bulky roll; silk twill's body and slight surface friction then hold that fold without constant adjustment.