Manchester's rock royalty is paying homage to the Queen with his own Jubilee-inspired souvenirs. In a cheeky tribute to Her Majesty the Queen Liam Gallagher has been transformed into King Liam for his gigs at Knebworth next Friday and Saturday.
The merchandise features the Oasis legend mocked up to look like actual royalty. The Wonderwall and Slide Away singer's 'Knebworth Jubilee' mugs and tea towels celebrate 25 years since his former band's legendary shows there in 1996.
A source told the Mirror: “Liam sees his gigs as an alternative to the Jubilee weekend. He knows some people want to get away from that and he’s had fun with his memorabilia. It’s King Liam all the way.”
READ MORE:
Asked if he’d dedicate a song to Her Majesty, Liam said: “I like her but not enough to sing a song for her. I’ll give her a shout out – I’ll give her a nod.” Liam will play to 160,000 fans at the sell-out concerts, featuring 10 Oasis tracks, five new songs and five solo tracks.
But it sounds less rock and roll than back in 1996 as Liam will fly in on a helicopter and have a police escort straight back to his Highgate home to make sure he doesn’t party on the Friday. The 49-year-old father-of-four said: “You’ve got to look after yourself and stay away from the nutters until the last night of Knebworth. I’ve had a lot of big nights but I’ll give it a go.”
His mum Peggy will be cheering him on and Liam, whose new album C’Mon You Know is out now, says he could dedicate a song to brother Noel. “I might give him a shout out, dedicate one of his songs to him,” he joked. “That’ll do his head in won’t it?”
To celebrate the release of his third album and two huge upcoming Knebworth shows, Liam has partnered with luxury retailer Selfridges on an exclusive collection which features brands such as C.P. Company, Barbour, Finlay, Nigel Cabourn and Sage Nation. The products are available online and in Selfridges London, Manchester Exchange Square and Manchester Trafford with each store hosting a pop-up space to celebrate the launch.
The collection sees Liam collaborate with brands chosen with Selfridges in a number of different ways. Barbour has created unique jackets that have been treated and upcycled, and include Liam Gallagher patches. C.P. Company has laser engraved his logo and RKID slogan onto its iconic lens badges, as well as using his prints on t-shirts.
Finlay sunglasses have been detailed with LG initials, and Sage Nation’s smock includes images of Gallagher. And Liam himself has helped design a range of items for Nigel Cabourn such as shorts, trousers, hats and jackets.
The prices start at £15 for a tote bag, while bucket hats cost £30. The partnership was brought together through Selfridges and the licensing and retail team from Warner Music’s WMX.
The team, alongside Gallagher and his management, also ran a competition with Manchester Metropolitan University to find fashion students to design original graphics to be printed onto garments which will be sold alongside the designer products. The competition winners were announced as Niamh & Aoife Dobson and Hari Thavanendran.
Niamh & Aoife Dobson developed their own CD range within the brand and collaged them to create the final series of designs. While Thavanendran used digital methods to produce raw brush strokes which highlight the symbols recognisable to Gallagher.
