Costume maker who dressed James Bond and Harry Potter stars now delivers babies
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Where once she was the principal costumer for the likes of Daniel Craig in James Bond, Liberty Webb is now a midwife at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
During her ten-year career, the 44-year-old worked with stars such as Judy Dench, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Helena Bonham-Carter, Scarlett Johannson and Nicole Kidman on films including Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd.
The mum of two began her career at Pinewood Studios after gaining her degree in costume and design.
“They liked the work I did for them on Troy, and that’s how I became known for my work and for the next ten years that’s what I did,” she said.
“It was a really fun time, very hard work and very demanding.
“The whole group of costume designers would be like a family, and we would work on all these films and hang out with these superstars on set.
“Mostly it was in film studios in London, although we did get to go to Panama for the Bond film, and it was Daniel Craig’s 40th birthday while we were there, and we all got to go. That was a stand-out memory.”
Liberty even met her husband, Mike, on a film set.
“Mike was a runner on Alexander and I met him on that set, so I have a lot to thank the film world for.”
But she still left it all behind.
“I’d had Oscar, now 14, and was pregnant with Scarlett, so this was around 2011. I just couldn’t do the job anymore, not with two children. So, I decided to go and set my own business up,” she said.
Film director Tim Burton had given her some leftover tweed and she made a poncho from it – and the second part of her career began.
“I made three ponchos and gave them to a market stall in Clapham to see how they went,” she said.
“They all sold, so from there I began making more and more and had my own business, Liberty Kelly.”
Liberty still felt there was something missing and she fell out of love with the business.
She closed the business and moved back to Brighton in 2019.
A chance meeting at a friend’s party set her on the road to becoming a midwife.
“I went to this party, and she was there and she said, ‘Why don’t you do it. Why don’t you become one?’.
“I was 40 – I thought, ‘no chance, I’m too old’. But I did it.”
Liberty became a student midwife at the Met in Brighton and has so far delivered 41 babies.
“It is the best decision I ever made,” she said.
“My first was in 2020 back when the world had stopped but we carried on. Delivering that baby was the most beautiful, amazing, spiritual experience ever- it still gives me goosebumps.
“I feel like I was born to do this.”
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