Barbara Hulanicki and BIBA: London's Iconic Fashion Legacy

In the vibrant world of fashion, there are iconic figures and brands that have left an indelible mark on the industry, trailblazers who shape trends, change the game and inspire generations to come.
Some of them are forgotten or not given the credit and space in present culture that they deserve. One such visionary is Barbara Hulanicki, the creative genius behind BIBA.

 

Today’s fashion icon is not a forgotten one, but definitely deserves to be better known. It is also not just a stylish person, really. We will delve into the fascinating history of Barbara Hulanicki, but mostly her legendary brand BIBA, and the iconic BIBA stores in London. They are a constant inspiration for me personally and for my vintage style, which draws deep inspiration from the captivating fashion of the 60s and 70s.
From innovative marketing strategies to a commitment to high-quality, accessible fashion, Biba's business tips are a wellspring of knowledge that I keep coming back to. In essence, Barbara Hulanicki and BIBA are living inspirations that continue to shape the way I approach style and business in the fashion world. Their legacy reminds us that creativity, originality, and a touch of nostalgia can pave the way for a stylish and successful fashion enterprise.

Imagine a department store in the swinging London with the trendiest clothes, accessories, make-up for very affordable prices, with a club where Mick Jagger, Twiggy and David Bowie hang out and a rooftop with live flamingos...all that was real and dubbed “The most beautiful store in the world.”
This used to be the Big Biba in 1970s.

BARBARA AND BIBA

Barbara Hulanicki was born in Poland and after some time living in Jerusalem with her family, they moved to Brighton with her mother and two sisters – Beatrice and Biruta, nicknamed Biba (which later inspired the brand name).

While studying at the Brighton School of Art, Barbara won the beachwear design competition held by Evening Standard in 1955. She got her further experience in the fashion world as a freelance fashion illustrator working in fashion capitals and couture shows for magazines like Vogue. Later, encouraged by her husband Stephan Fitz-Simon who was in advertising, and saw the photography replacing illustrations, Barbara started designing and selling via mail-order catalogues.

After her pink and white gingham Biba dress design was featured in Daily Mirror and sold 17,000 pieces, they opened their first Biba boutique in London in 1964. Their clothes were contemporary, accentuating the pale, slim body type of the moment. Widely accessible to the audience of hip working young girls because of their focus on keeping the prices low. The clothes were produced at a quick pace to guarantee they’re trendy and supplying what customers wanted faster than the competition.

Barbara and Fitz made a great business team - with Barbara’s eye for fashion and her ability to have her finger on the pulse of their time and Fitz’s advertising and marketing experience led to the cult of what Biba became. Examples of their their genius were the empty shop windows, same dresses and accessories in various colors without having to come up with too many designs (selling only one dress design when first Biba shop opened), calculating prices based on disposable income of their customers; as Barabara explained in her book, if a secretary made 9 pounds a week and spent 3 on rent, 3 on food, she could buy a cute Biba piece every week if it was around 2-3 pounds.

They moved to bigger premises after just 18 months, expanding their clientele and influence on London fashion scene, being called “the most exotic store in London” and earning Barbara Hulanicki the attribute of one of the “people who make London swing”.

They still continued with the mail-order catalogues for a few more years and the strong business duo went on to move to a bigger store in 1969, where evening wear, menswear and household were added and Biba became a department store. Biba cosmetics followed and launched in famous department stores from New York to Tokyo and later in 300 further stores.

WELCOME TO THE BIG BIBA

The Big Biba opened it’s doors in September 1973.

Now, by this time Biba has established itself as the go-to place for the who-is-who in London. However, this is where it has reached its peak and a lot of the magic happened. It was a shop like no other, before or since...

The Big Biba was located in a department store building in the heart of London, filling all its 7 floors with own-label products, everything designed, commissioned, sourced and approved by Hulanicki herself.

Below Stairs: The Food Hall

Ground floor: Cosmetics, Leather, Shoes, The Book Shop, Tights, T-Shirts, Biba Logo Shop, Stationery, Jewellery, The Flower Shop, The Casbah -exotic unit and many more

The Biba floor: the original women’s fashion, inspired by the previous stores

Second floor: For Babies, Children, Lolitas and Pregnant Ladies

Third Floor: Men only and Biba for Boys, Sports

Fourth Floor: Household

Fifth Floor: The Rainbow Restaurant

The Roof Garden: divided into English woodland garden, a Tudor garden and a Spanish garden

As with the previous stores, the Big Biba had a unique and distinct look, which was inspired and borrowed elements from Old Hollywood, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Victoriana and pre-Raphaelites. These influenced the interior design, as well as packaging, fashion designs and advertising. The floors were carpeted or marbled, filled with black and golden mirrored furniture pieces, leopard sofas and beds, peacock feathers, gorgeous and innovative displays of products and basically anything you would not expect in a modern department store.

Loud popular music blasting through stores, dimmed lightning, communal fitting rooms, in-house restaurant for husbands while wives are shopping, being able to try your make up and cosmetics before buying, computerized till system – all these very normal things in retail nowadays were first established by Barbara and Fitz. That’s how wide-reaching and current their work stays.

The floors were also filled with cool kids from basically all London and surroundings, from all over the world. When the store opened, there were up to a million visitors per week, later settling at 100,000. Biba became a destination. It was number two tourist attraction after Tower of London and followed by Buckingham Palace. New Queen and King were reigning now! And let’s not forget the rockstars hanging out in Biba – from Mick Jagger with his girlfriends, David Bowie, The New York Dolls performing in the Rainbow Room, Twiggy being the face of Biba, Freddie Mercury (in movie Bohemian Rhapsody when Freddie meets his love Mary, her friend tells him she works there and later he goes shopping in Biba – next time theres a reference to Biba in movies, music or books you won’t miss it!) TV presenter Cathy Mc Gowan, Yoko Ono, and basically every icon of popculture in 60s-70s. Even Anna Wintour worked there when she was 15.

But probably more notable and iconic are the Biba Girls. These young girls working in the stores had a real influence on modern fashion and style of 60s-70s icons. Like the American flappers or French garconnes, the British Biba girls represented an important and unforgettable moment in time. They were young and beautiful, impeccably dressed in the newest trends, faces painted in moody smoky colors or bright-big Twiggy-eyed, sharp Vidal Sassoon haircuts, they were cool, danced and drank champagne for breakfast, and they never tried to sell or “assist” you. They were just there.

BIBA LOOK

Hulanicki’s designs were inspired by the nostalgia and decadence of the bygone eras. So were the colors used – plum, mulberry, prune, brown, bruised purple, rust, tobacco, camel, blacks and golds. The dark, sombre colors were a stark contrast to the bright Pop art colors of contemporary fashion. She also brought back herringbone tweed, gangster pinstripes and hats and 1930s satins. Barbara and Fitz attended countless textile fairs and together with their manufacturers designed thousands of original prints. Those ranged from daisy prints, to dark tapestries, thick stripes to psychedelia prints.

Lot of the clothing designs were simple in order to be produced in various colors and so keep the prices down. While the prices made the clothes desirable and accessible to the masses of young girls and later boys, the fit was suitable for few ultra-skinny. They were meant to accentuate the skinny bodies of girls growing up during the post-war time when nutrition was not ideal. Mini skirts, slim trouser suits, square shoulders, long sleeves so fitted they had darts put in, long extra-fitted evening dresses, child-like doll dresses. Important part of the Biba look were the accessories. You could get a cheap dress or separates and finish the look with hats, headscarves that evoked the movie star look, add colorful boots, plastic jewellery or feather boas.

To finish off the look, Biba had its own range of makeup in unusual colors and more shades than other brands. The vampy old Hollywood looks used heavy eyeshadow, dark lips and hollowed out cheeks in black, brown, blue, green and more “dirty, sludgy” colors, as well as metallics and thick false eyelashes in Biba shades. Many young girls used to come in to the shop in the morning, took advantage of the brand new possibility of testing the make up in store, did their make up and went to work. Biba cosmetics were a hugely successful part of the business.

The look was spread to customers near and far via the Biba catalogue. A printed catalogue featured the whole look – face, accessories and attitude – shipped to existing customers and potential ones across the country.

Despite Biba being an icon like no other in the mid-70s, due to disagreements over creative control and financial decisions with the Board, Hulanicki and Fitz-Simon left the company and the Big Biba closed its doors by September 1975.

The creative business duo moved to Brazil and later the USA and continued their work on various design projects. The brand Biba has been relaunched a few times under different directions, but never managed to repeat the success of the 1963-1975 years.

Barbara Hulanicki on the demise of the Big Biba: “The suits had won. And yet, in spite of that, we broke through the corporate fence. It is a testament to creative freedom. You can do it all as long as you learn to wear a suit. Of course, your secret will be that the suit is lined in gold lamé. They’ll never know until it’s too late.”

 

And a little gift at the end, my recommended resources if you would like to dive deeper into the fascinating history of Biba, see many more rare images and make your life a little bit more beautiful:

From A to Biba: The Autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki  (for Spain)
From A to Biba: The Autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki  (for Germany)
From A to Biba: The Autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki  (for the UK)

 

 
The Biba Years 1963-1975  (for Spain)
The Biba Years 1963-1975  (for Germany)
The Biba Years 1963-1975  (for the UK)

 

 
Welcome to Big Biba: Inside the Most Beautiful Store in the World  (for Spain)
Welcome to Big Biba: Inside the Most Beautiful Store in the World  (for Germany)
Welcome to Big Biba: Inside the Most Beautiful Store in the World  (for the UK)