Liberation’s new home on Percy Street

After 22 years at 49 Shelton Street, Liberation has moved just under a mile north. We re-opened at 4 Percy Street in Fitzrovia on Wednesday 9 September, with roughly three times the retail space of the old shop. Here is what has changed, what hasn’t, and how to find us.

Why we moved

Covent Garden was good to us. Shelton Street gave Liberation its first home in 2004, back when a latex boutique with an open front door was still an unusual proposition in central London, and for 22 years it welcomed customers from all over the world. But Libidex has grown a great deal since then — close to 3,000 styles now — and the cosy little boutique was becoming a little too cosy.

Staying central mattered more than anything, and large premises in the middle of London are not easy to find. Percy Street is a quiet side street off Tottenham Court Road, just north of Oxford Street, with a wide glass frontage and enough room to do the thing we had wanted to do for years: give each range a floor of its own.

Two floors, not one

The ground floor is the women’s floor: dresses, skirts, catsuits, corsetry and lingerie, elegantly displayed, with hosiery, gloves and collars along the back wall. The men’s floor holds shirts, trousers, shorts, harnesses, briefs and hoods, in the full Libidex colour range rather than the black-only selection we used to have room for.

Dividing the shop was not about policing who shops where — plenty of people browse both, and they should. It was about space. Giving each range its own room means more of it on the rail, in more sizes, at the same time.

We wanted somewhere people could actually come and see, feel and try on latex clothing, rather than just looking at pictures online.

Simon Rose, Libidex

What hasn’t changed

The same welcome: everyone, every body and every identity, whether you have worn latex for twenty years or have never touched it and are not sure you want to. The same reason for being here, too — somewhere you can see, feel and try latex on rather than guess from a photograph.

The phone number is unchanged. So is the approach to discretion: plain bags as standard, and nothing that happens in the changing room leaves the shop.

We continue to sell tickets for UK and European fetish events in person only. Ask at the counter for what is coming up, or email ahead if you want something held.

How to find us

Come out of Tottenham Court Road station and head north. Percy Street is on the left, and we are a short way down behind a black fascia. From Goodge Street station it is about five minutes south.

We are open Monday to Saturday, 11:00 to 19:00, and closed on Sundays and public holidays. No appointment is needed to browse — only for fittings.

If you were a Shelton Street regular, thank you for 22 years. Come and see what we did with the extra room.