Description

Biba dominated London fashion from the mid-1960s and, for over a decade, it defined the dress and outlook of a generation. Celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the opening of the first Biba boutique, this book takes a revealing look at Biba through the words and images of the people who were intimately involved with the company and its phenomenal success.

Established in 1963 as Biba Postal Boutique – a small mail-order company selling inexpensive clothing for women and children – by 1973 Biba was a seven-storey department store on London’s Kensington High Street. Customers could fill their wardrobes and furnish their home with Biba products; Biba had become the world’s first lifestyle label. Visitors to the store could buy a tin of Biba baked beans, take tea on Europe’s largest roof garden or watch live music from The New York Dolls’, Iggy Pop or Liberace in the 500-seat Rainbow Room.

Created by Barbara Hulanicki and her husband, Fitz, Biba was made in the image of its staff and customers. Selling up-to-the-minute clothing at affordable prices, Biba appealed to teenagers and young women of the post-war generation, becoming the fashion destination of the Swinging Sixties and seventies. Biba was the place to see and to be seen; its doors were open to everyone, from The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull and Twiggy to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.

Biba: The Fashion Brand that Defined a Generation includes photographs by Helmut Newton, Sarah Moon and Duffy, as well as never-before-seen ephemera from the personal archive of Barbara Hulanicki. Interviews with the people closest to Biba serve to bring these images and objects to life, while recollections and anecdotes from Barbara herself shine a new light on the very personal nature of Biba as a business.

Publisher Review

“Biba was for anyone … it wasn’t like any other shop I had ever seen. Biba was Barbara Hulanicki, an extraordinary, wonderful woman. I feel very lucky to count her among my friends” – Dame Twiggy Lawson

“In the 1990s I had a Biba dress that I lived in. I love Biba and I wear the pieces I still can from my archive. The others I have passed on to Lila; I get so much joy seeing her in them” – Kate Moss

“Biba has been foundational to my career as a fashion historian and curator. Beautiful, iconic and so redolent of a specific time and
place; it’s a brand that remains cherished by so many people. Biba will always hold a special place for me, it’s magical” – Amber Butchart

“My glamorous older sister took me to Biba in Kensington Church Street when I was ten. I remember spotting a pair of shoes printed with Mickey Mouse all over them. The scales fell from my eyes. I hadn’t realised that fashion existed before then” – Stephen Jones

“In the history of the cosmetics industry, Barbara Hulanicki’s contribution as a true pioneer and visionary can not be overstated. Biba was the first high street make-up brand to offer a fully inclusive range of complexion products … Biba completely democratised the colour cosmetics industry” – Lisa Eldridge