UK £XX.00 USA $XX.00 CAN $XX.00

Founded as a mail-order postal boutique in 1963, fashion brand Biba – the brainchild of designer Barbara Hulanicki – quickly gained cult status among the denizens of ‘Swinging London’. This book tells the story of the Biba decade; from the very first designs, through the four iconic London shops, to the eventual flourishing of a lifestyle brand that would revolutionize British retail and fashion culture.

Featuring a wealth of previously-unpublished material, including early fashion illustrations by Hulanicki and full-colour facsimiles of the six luxurious Biba catalogues, The Biba Decade explores the innovative ethos and unique look of Biba fashion.Archival photographs provide a glimpse into the glamorous surrounds of the carefully curated London stores, and are accompanied by personal insights from Hulanicki and her contemporaries at Biba.

The Biba Decade is the last word on a fashion phenomenon.

BARBARA HULANICKI AND MARTIN PEL

1963–1975 THE BIBA YEARS

THE BIBA

YEA

RS

BAR

BAR

A H

ULA

NIC

KI A

ND

MA

RTIN PEL

1963–1975

Becoming Biba

1936 – 1948

Becoming Biba

1936 – 1948

24

Opposite: Barbara Hulanicki, fashion illustration for the Evening Standard ‘fashion contest’, mixed media, 1955.

Above, left: Barbara Hulanicki, ‘Sophie Loren’ illustration, pencil on paper??, c.1958.

Above, right: Irene Page, ‘A Norman Hartnell model for student Barbara’, publication/issue?, 1955.

Although I find there’s no problem with speaking English...reading something complicated can be more like hard work than pleasure. There are all sorts of things English people take for granted that I don’t know like nursery rhymes and Winnie the Pooh. When I read Alice in Wonderland, I thought it was gruesome.’

It was at Charmandean, a private school which Barbara attended in the nearby town of Worthing, that she would be free from home life. She was to also meet a set of American twins, Marcia and Alicia Bradford. Alicia, now Bregman, remembers the years at Charmandean,

‘We used to have to do art projects and Barbara would always win it. She had the most amazing colour schemes in her drawings, all these dark plums, purples and such things. Most people just stuck with the boring yellows and blues but not Barbara so she’d always win first prize.’ Alicia also remembers Auntie, ‘We were really impressed with Barbara. Her auntie had a chinchilla coat which was something we’d never seen before. We didn’t realise how difficult those coats were to look after but it was so sophisticated.’ The twins who were to make an indelible impression on Barbara, opening her eyes to American fashion aimed at the new and, as yet, untapped, teenage market, ‘They were my heroes. They had these wonderful clothes from America. Every new term they would have these gorgeous dresses; there would be one in pink and the other in one in blue, these fantastic fifties’ dresses. They had these modern clothes, modern colours, amazing. And we had terrible uniforms’

25

Becoming Biba

1936 - 1948

24

Opposite: Barbara Hulanicki, fashion illustration for the Evening Standard ‘fashion contest’, mixed media, 1955.

Above, left: Barbara Hulanicki, ‘Sophie Loren’ illustration, pencil on paper??, c.1958.

Above, right: Irene Page, ‘A Norman Hartnell model for student Barbara’, publication/issue?, 1955.

Although I find there’s no problem with speaking English...reading something complicated can be more like hard work than pleasure. There are all sorts of things English people take for granted that I don’t know like nursery rhymes and Winnie the Pooh. When I read Alice in Wonderland, I thought it was gruesome.’

It was at Charmandean, a private school which Barbara attended in the nearby town of Worthing, that she would be free from home life. She was to also meet a set of American twins, Marcia and Alicia Bradford. Alicia, now Bregman, remembers the years at Charmandean,

‘We used to have to do art projects and Barbara would always win it. She had the most amazing colour schemes in her drawings, all these dark plums, purples and such things. Most people just stuck with the boring yellows and blues but not Barbara so she’d always win first prize.’ Alicia also remembers Auntie, ‘We were really impressed with Barbara. Her auntie had a chinchilla coat which was something we’d never seen before. We didn’t realise how difficult those coats were to look after but it was so sophisticated.’ The twins who were to make an indelible impression on Barbara, opening her eyes to American fashion aimed at the new and, as yet, untapped, teenage market, ‘They were my heroes. They had these wonderful clothes from America. Every new term they would have these gorgeous dresses; there would be one in pink and the other in one in blue, these fantastic fifties’ dresses. They had these modern clothes, modern colours, amazing. And we had terrible uniforms’

25

Becoming Biba

1936 - 1948

Fashion was to undergo a radical change in the 1950s as the haughty and maternal, epitomised by models such as Barbara Golen and Fiona Campbell-Walter, was rejected for the young and playful. Mary Quant’s Bazaar boutique, opening in 1955, reflected this new attitude. ‘I just knew that I wanted to concentrate on finding the right clothes for the young to wear. ’ Quant’s clothes certainly had youth on its mind but were priced to be worn only by wealthy Chelsea Girls, not your average girl in the street. Janey Ironside’s appointment as professor of fashion in 1956 at the Royal College of Art (RCA), would also prove to be nothing short of ‘revolutionary.’ Ironside’s aim, to ‘promote an internationally accepted new English look’, meant opening up art schools to everyone, especially the working class. In so doing the RCA would produce a whole slew of British designers, James Wedge, Sylvia Ayton, Zandra Rhodes, Tuffin and Foale, David Sassoon and later

Ossie Clark, Bill Gibb and Antony Price and change the face of British fashion across the world.

The Hulanicki family’s move to Grand Avenue in Hove, the town adjacent to Brighton, was to give Barbara her first taste of fame. Housed in one of the penthouses of the art-deco building next door to her new home was a film director, whom Barbara now recalls as being, ‘quite seedy, a director of B-movies and always with a harem of starlets in his apartment...There was big film industry in Hove then with a film studio and I began working for them, doing stuff behind the scenes.’ It was also Barbara’s first taste of being in front of the camera, ‘I was in one of the crowd scenes in one of my homemade dresses. The

26 27

Becoming Biba

1936 - 1948

Left: Barbara Hulanicki, working drawing of black dress, mixed media, 1964.

Right: Barbara Hulanicki, working drawing of black and spotted dresses, mixed media, 1955.

garment was very interesting at the back because I knew I would only be seen from the back. It had a little V and a white collar. I was so proud of it. They asked me if I would wear a bikini and I said, ‘no way!’

The acquisition of affordable yet fashionable clothing became a preoccupation for Barbara, as it was for many of her generation. Paper patterns provided one option, although they were not always the success Barbara hoped for, ‘there was always lots of clothes happening all the time, my mother was always sewing and I would start sewing things and then I’d get bored so there would be these bundles of things. My mother couldn’t stand to see these half-made things so she would have to finish them and I was forever saying, “no mama, make it tighter!”

Auntie was keen for Barbara to take a place at university but Barbara, against her auntie’s wishes, attended Brighton Art School (now the University of Brighton). It was here that Barbara would begin to learn the skills and to make acquaintances which would influence her choice in both life and career. Whilst at art school she was to meet and become engaged to Peter Dingemanns, an officer in the navy. The engagement was not to last but she was to remain great friends with the family especially the two sisters, Jenny and Jo Dingemanns. Jennie remembers Barbara at a friend’s 21st birthday party, ‘I’ve got very vivid memories of Barbara wearing an ice-blue Givenchy gown...she looked terrific and it was so elegant and so unusual for that time because it was her aunts.’ Jo, an eight year old at the time also remembers, ‘[Barbara] would drag me into our ping-pong room and say, “put this hat on and stand over there” and she’d sketch...whatever you looked like the drawings were beautiful, great big eyes.’ , Jennie adds, ‘One was mesmerised by her drawings which she did of these models with great big eyes, pictures that we’d never seen before.’ Pauline Ratty, Barbara’s teacher at art school also recalls, ‘She’d got this flair, she had a definite 50s’ style about her, but she didn’t create traditional design, very far from it. She did these girls with these sweet little faces and navy blue eyelids, or bright green eyelids and short skirts that shot out at the side...lovely colours, lovely things.’

A visiting lecturer from the RCA would cajole, intimidate and push Barbara into her first career. Joanne Brogden, assistant to Virginia Ironside and later to be the head of the fashion school at the RCA, taught drawing and illustration at Brighton. When Barbara passed her

second-year exam with a smock dress, with pocket flaps but no pockets, Brogden exclaimed, ‘I don’t believe you passed, I can’t believe it. You’re much better at drawing, go and draw.’ Brogden’s comments were probably influenced by Barbara’s success the year earlier. The Evening Standard had run a ‘fashion contest’ with a panel of four judges including couturier to the queen - and Auntie - Norman Hartnell. Barbara had submitted under the ‘guidance’ of her aunt, a fussy day dress which turned into an unbecoming evening gown. Inspired to design her own garment, Barbara was to secretly enter an Italian-style beach outfit in candy-striped cotton and white Eton collar. The illustration, a re-creation of Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina Fair, was to win the beachwear section of the

Barbara Hulanicki, working drawing of first ‘Biba Postal Boutique’ skirt, mixed media, 1963.

Becoming Biba

1936 - 1948

Fashion was to undergo a radical change in the 1950s as the haughty and maternal, epitomised by models such as Barbara Golen and Fiona Campbell-Walter, was rejected for the young and playful. Mary Quant’s Bazaar boutique, opening in 1955, reflected this new attitude. ‘I just knew that I wanted to concentrate on finding the right clothes for the young to wear. ’ Quant’s clothes certainly had youth on its mind but were priced to be worn only by wealthy Chelsea Girls, not your average girl in the street. Janey Ironside’s appointment as professor of fashion in 1956 at the Royal College of Art (RCA), would also prove to be nothing short of ‘revolutionary.’ Ironside’s aim, to ‘promote an internationally accepted new English look’, meant opening up art schools to everyone, especially the working class. In so doing the RCA would produce a whole slew of British designers, James Wedge, Sylvia Ayton, Zandra Rhodes, Tuffin and Foale, David Sassoon and later

Ossie Clark, Bill Gibb and Antony Price and change the face of British fashion across the world.

The Hulanicki family’s move to Grand Avenue in Hove, the town adjacent to Brighton, was to give Barbara her first taste of fame. Housed in one of the penthouses of the art-deco building next door to her new home was a film director, whom Barbara now recalls as being, ‘quite seedy, a director of B-movies and always with a harem of starlets in his apartment...There was big film industry in Hove then with a film studio and I began working for them, doing stuff behind the scenes.’ It was also Barbara’s first taste of being in front of the camera, ‘I was in one of the crowd scenes in one of my homemade dresses. The

26 27

Becoming Biba

1936 - 1948

Left: Barbara Hulanicki, working drawing of black dress, mixed media, 1964.

Right: Barbara Hulanicki, working drawing of black and spotted dresses, mixed media, 1955.

garment was very interesting at the back because I knew I would only be seen from the back. It had a little V and a white collar. I was so proud of it. They asked me if I would wear a bikini and I said, ‘no way!’

The acquisition of affordable yet fashionable clothing became a preoccupation for Barbara, as it was for many of her generation. Paper patterns provided one option, although they were not always the success Barbara hoped for, ‘there was always lots of clothes happening all the time, my mother was always sewing and I would start sewing things and then I’d get bored so there would be these bundles of things. My mother couldn’t stand to see these half-made things so she would have to finish them and I was forever saying, “no mama, make it tighter!”

Auntie was keen for Barbara to take a place at university but Barbara, against her auntie’s wishes, attended Brighton Art School (now the University of Brighton). It was here that Barbara would begin to learn the skills and to make acquaintances which would influence her choice in both life and career. Whilst at art school she was to meet and become engaged to Peter Dingemanns, an officer in the navy. The engagement was not to last but she was to remain great friends with the family especially the two sisters, Jenny and Jo Dingemanns. Jennie remembers Barbara at a friend’s 21st birthday party, ‘I’ve got very vivid memories of Barbara wearing an ice-blue Givenchy gown...she looked terrific and it was so elegant and so unusual for that time because it was her aunts.’ Jo, an eight year old at the time also remembers, ‘[Barbara] would drag me into our ping-pong room and say, “put this hat on and stand over there” and she’d sketch...whatever you looked like the drawings were beautiful, great big eyes.’ , Jennie adds, ‘One was mesmerised by her drawings which she did of these models with great big eyes, pictures that we’d never seen before.’ Pauline Ratty, Barbara’s teacher at art school also recalls, ‘She’d got this flair, she had a definite 50s’ style about her, but she didn’t create traditional design, very far from it. She did these girls with these sweet little faces and navy blue eyelids, or bright green eyelids and short skirts that shot out at the side...lovely colours, lovely things.’

A visiting lecturer from the RCA would cajole, intimidate and push Barbara into her first career. Joanne Brogden, assistant to Virginia Ironside and later to be the head of the fashion school at the RCA, taught drawing and illustration at Brighton. When Barbara passed her

second-year exam with a smock dress, with pocket flaps but no pockets, Brogden exclaimed, ‘I don’t believe you passed, I can’t believe it. You’re much better at drawing, go and draw.’ Brogden’s comments were probably influenced by Barbara’s success the year earlier. The Evening Standard had run a ‘fashion contest’ with a panel of four judges including couturier to the queen - and Auntie - Norman Hartnell. Barbara had submitted under the ‘guidance’ of her aunt, a fussy day dress which turned into an unbecoming evening gown. Inspired to design her own garment, Barbara was to secretly enter an Italian-style beach outfit in candy-striped cotton and white Eton collar. The illustration, a re-creation of Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina Fair, was to win the beachwear section of the

Barbara Hulanicki, working drawing of first ‘Biba Postal Boutique’ skirt, mixed media, 1963.

Becoming Biba

1936 - 1948

87 Abingdon Road

1964 – 1966

87 Abingdon Road

1964 – 1966

19 – 21 Church Street

1966 – 1969

19 – 21 Church Street

1966 – 1969

Below and opposite: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean matt commodo lectus se in porttitor diam.

n the sixteen months that Biba was at Abingdon Road Biba became a name recognized nationwide. With a constant presence in

magazines and regular appearances on television, thanks to Cathy McGown and Cilla Black, Biba was a firmly established name within youth culture. The move to larger premises on Kensington Church Street brought nationwide news coverage. ‘...the original, the oldest, the mother of the whole fantastic dolly-gear explosion – was moving from its disused chemist’s shop in Abingdon Road to new premises in Church Street’ said the Daily Mail. “Cilla and Co Help Move Shop’ proclaimed the Daily Mirror, accompanied by a picture of Cilla Black and Cathy McGowan clambering out of a van with the necessary, and not so necessary, fittings for the new shop. The Mirror, a newspaper with a circulation which would reach five million in the Sixties1, was covering a story about a London boutique which had existed for less than a year

and a half. The story was also a testament to the success of Barbara’s vision and Fitz’s business nous and whilst at Church Street Biba would become the fashion label which represented, both nationally and internationally, ‘Swinging London.’

It had been clear after six months at Abingdon Road that the boutique was far too small to accommodate the numbers of costumers Biba was attracting each week. ‘It was bursting at the seams and it was almost impossible to sell anything because customers couldn’t get to the till.’ The new Biba premises was located on the opposite side of Kensington High Street from Abingdon Road and had formerly been a butchers and green grocers. It was to combine retail space and offices, with work rooms still

19–21 Church Street

1966 – 1969

78

Below and opposite: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean matt commodo lectus se in porttitor diam.

n the sixteen months that Biba was at Abingdon Road Biba became a name recognized nationwide. With a constant presence in

magazines and regular appearances on television, thanks to Cathy McGown and Cilla Black, Biba was a firmly established name within youth culture. The move to larger premises on Kensington Church Street brought nationwide news coverage. ‘...the original, the oldest, the mother of the whole fantastic dolly-gear explosion – was moving from its disused chemist’s shop in Abingdon Road to new premises in Church Street’ said the Daily Mail. “Cilla and Co Help Move Shop’ proclaimed the Daily Mirror, accompanied by a picture of Cilla Black and Cathy McGowan clambering out of a van with the necessary, and not so necessary, fittings for the new shop. The Mirror, a newspaper with a circulation which would reach five million in the Sixties1, was covering a story about a London boutique which had existed for less than a year

and a half. The story was also a testament to the success of Barbara’s vision and Fitz’s business nous and whilst at Church Street Biba would become the fashion label which represented, both nationally and internationally, ‘Swinging London.’

It had been clear after six months at Abingdon Road that the boutique was far too small to accommodate the numbers of costumers Biba was attracting each week. ‘It was bursting at the seams and it was almost impossible to sell anything because customers couldn’t get to the till.’ The new Biba premises was located on the opposite side of Kensington High Street from Abingdon Road and had formerly been a butchers and green grocers. It was to combine retail space and offices, with work rooms still

19–21 Church Street

1966 – 1969

78

n the sixteen months that Biba was at Abingdon Road Biba became a name recognized nationwide. With a constant presence in magazines and regular appearances on television, thanks to Cathy McGown and Cilla Black, Biba was a firmly established name within youth culture. The move to larger premises on Kensington Church Street brought nationwide news coverage. ‘...the original, the oldest, the mother of the whole fantastic dolly-gear explosion – was moving from its disused chemist’s shop in Abingdon Road to new premises in Church Street’ said the Daily Mail. “Cilla and Co Help Move Shop’ proclaimed the Daily Mirror, accompanied by a picture of Cilla Black and Cathy McGowan clambering out of a van with the necessary, and not so necessary, fittings for the new shop. The Mirror, a newspaper with a circulation which would reach five million in the Sixties1, was covering a story about a London boutique which had existed for less than a year and a half. The story was also a testament to the success of Barbara’s vision and Fitz’s business nous and whilst at Church Street Biba would become the fashion

Above: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. sed tinciduni Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam.

Below: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean matt commodo.

Opposite, top to bottom: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean sed tinciduni Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam.

80 81

19–21 Church Street

1966 – 1969

n the sixteen months that Biba was at Abingdon Road Biba became a name recognized nationwide. With a constant presence in magazines and regular appearances on television, thanks to Cathy McGown and Cilla Black, Biba was a firmly established name within youth culture. The move to larger premises on Kensington Church Street brought nationwide news coverage. ‘...the original, the oldest, the mother of the whole fantastic dolly-gear explosion – was moving from its disused chemist’s shop in Abingdon Road to new premises in Church Street’ said the Daily Mail. “Cilla and Co Help Move Shop’ proclaimed the Daily Mirror, accompanied by a picture of Cilla Black and Cathy McGowan clambering out of a van with the necessary, and not so necessary, fittings for the new shop. The Mirror, a newspaper with a circulation which would reach five million in the Sixties1, was covering a story about a London boutique which had existed for less than a year and a half. The story was also a testament to the success of Barbara’s vision and Fitz’s business nous and whilst at Church Street Biba would become the fashion

Above: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. sed tinciduni Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam.

Below: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean matt commodo.

Opposite, top to bottom: Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean sed tinciduni Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam.

80 81

19–21 Church Street

1966 – 1969

Left: Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey.

Right: Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey.

“I loved the severity of the look and also its timelessness.”

Playsuit, 1967. Sythetic Jersey. Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam.

88

Left: Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey.

Right: Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey.

“I loved the severity of the look and also its timelessness.”

Playsuit, 1967. Sythetic Jersey. Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam.

88

“I loved the severity of the look and also its timelessness.”

Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey. Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam.

Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey. Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam.

“I loved the severity of the look and also its timelessness.”

Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey. Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam.

Shift dress, 1967. Sythetic Jersey. Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam.

120 High Street Kensington

1969 – 1973

120 High Street Kensington

1969 – 1973

99 – 117 High Street Kensington

Big Biba1973 – 1975

99 – 117 High Street Kensington

Big Biba1973 – 1975

Beyond Biba

Beyond Biba

The Biba Girl

The Biba Girl

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The Biba Girl

The Biba Girl

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Aenean mattis commodo lectus sed tincidunt. Cras in porttitor diam. Suspendisse vel. Cras in porttitor diam end aenean matt commodo lectus se in porttitor diam.

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