34-572: Biba was a London fashion store of the 1960s and 1970s. Biba was started and primarily run by the Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki with help from her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon. After the original company closed in 1975, Biba was relaunched several times, independently of Hulanicki. As of 2024 it was a brand of the House of Fraser. Biba's early years were rather humble, with many of the outfits being inexpensive and available to
68-624: A Biba employee. After the shop's 1975 closure, Hulanicki moved to Brazil, where she opened several other stores. She kept designing for labels such as Fiorucci and Cacharel and from 1980 to 1992 designed a line of children's wear, Minirock, licensed to the Japanese market. In 1981 she opened a new shop in UK. In 1987, she moved to Miami , Florida , where she opened an interior design business, designing hotels for Chris Blackwell in Jamaica and
102-505: A cropped suede jacket. In the same month, a handbag in her Art Deco style was made by the Italian label Coccinelle. About the design scene in 2009, Hulanicki has said: "There is very little difference today as opposed to the '70s; although, there is much more choice now. Both periods share the same enthusiasm, if you press the right buttons." In December 2013, she was the guest on BBC Radio 4 's Desert Island Discs , where her top choice
136-477: A fashion illustrator after studying at Brighton Art College in the late 1950s. She married advertising executive Stephen Fitz-Simon and they soon opened a mail order clothing company that she named Biba's Postal Boutique. Biba was the nickname of her younger sister Biruta. In 1973 with the backing of Dorothy Perkins and British Land , the store moved to the seven-storey Derry & Toms department store on Kensington High Street , which immediately attracted up to
170-665: A freelance fashion illustrator for various magazines, including Vogue , Tatler and Women's Wear Daily . Hulanicki sold her first designs through a small mail-order business that was featured in the fashion columns of newspapers such as the London Daily Mirror . In 1964, she opened her Biba shop in the Kensington district of London with the help of her husband, Stephen Fitz-Simon. The shop soon became known for its "stylishly decadent atmosphere" and decor inspired by Art Nouveau and Art Deco . It became
204-438: A hangout for artists, film stars and rock musicians, including Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones , David Bowie , Marianne Faithfull and Cathy McGowan , presenter of British pop/rock TV programme Ready Steady Go! . In the shop, a young clientele bought affordable mini-skirts, floppy felt hats, feather boas, velvet trouser suits and unisex tee-shirts dyed in rich, muted colours. Anna Wintour started in fashion at age 15 as
238-563: A million customers weekly, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions in London . There were different departments, and each floor had its own theme, such as a children's floor, a floor for men, a book store, a food market, and a "home" floor which sold items such as wallpaper, paint, cutlery, soft furnishings and even statues. The overall design was produced by Whitmore-Thomas Partnership, run by artist/designers Steve Thomas and Tim Whitmore. Each department had its own logo or sign, which
272-551: A store in London on 27 November 1978, on two floors in Conduit Street in London's Mayfair . The store was not a success, and closed less than two years later. There have been several attempts to relaunch Biba, the first occurring as soon after its closure as 1977. There was another relaunch in the mid-1990s, with Monica Zipper as head designer. Barbara Hulanicki has not been involved with any of these relaunches, and owing to
306-898: The United Kingdom . The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in London , England and is a founding member of the European Public Real Estate Association . It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . The British Land Company was founded in 1856 as an offshoot of the National Freehold Land Society (later Abbey National ) formed in 1849 with
340-850: The Bahamas. She has designed wallpaper for the Habitat store chain in Europe, launched a fashion and home range in India, and also produced a wallpaper range in her widely recognised Art Deco style for Graham & Brown. British retailer Topshop opened a New York City store in April 2009, and later that month launched a collection featuring Hulanicki's designs. She produced a collection for Topshop featuring billowing chiffon dresses and blouses reminiscent of her original Biba style, along with several jersey pieces printed with her original illustrations, bikinis and
374-535: The Biba Food Hall, each part was aimed at one particular kind of product; a unit made to look like a dog (based on Hulanicki's own dog, a Great Dane named Othello) consisted of dog food; a huge baked beans tin can consisted of only tins of Baked beans; a can of " Warhol's Condensed Soup" etc., all foods having individual innovative units. Also at the new "Big Biba" was the Rainbow Room restaurant, which
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#1732772602969408-484: The best terms to any customer who wanted to buy it. With the extension of the franchise, this reason ceased to govern the operation of the company, and it began to operate as a normal business in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In 2004 it received planning permission for a Richard Rogers designed skyscraper at 122 Leadenhall Street , known informally as "The Cheese Grater" in the City of London . Construction of
442-611: The company December of that year. He was succeeded by the firms chief financial officer Simon Carter in November 2020. In November 2020, British Land wrote down the value of its portfolio by almost £1 billion after retail income fell due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom . In September 2023, it was reported that Meta , the owner of Facebook , had paid £149 million to British Land in order to break
476-515: The company after just 2 seasons in June 2007 to relaunch her own label. The Biba relaunch failed and the company went into administration for a second time in 2008. House of Fraser (HoF) bought the company in November 2009 for a second relaunch by an in-house design team, announcing Daisy Lowe as the new face of the label. Hector Castro and a five-strong team were selected to replace Freud with couture hats created by Prudence Millinery . This relaunch
510-435: The company was placed in the number one position, with 135 subsidiaries, on a list of FTSE 100 companies that use tax havens for their operations, as revealed in a database of their subsidiaries compiled for the first time by the development charity ActionAid . In March 2019, the company appointed Tim Score as the chair of its board. In September 2020, British Land announced that its chief executive Chris Grigg would exit
544-523: The day and bought 75% (approx.) of Biba. This led to the formation of Biba Ltd, which meant that the brand and the store could now be properly financed. After disagreements with the Board over creative control, Hulanicki left the company and, shortly afterwards in 1975, Biba was closed by the British Land Company . For a period after it closed, Biba's department store on Kensington High Street
578-605: The founder of clothes store Biba . Hulanicki was born in Warsaw , Poland, to Polish parents. Her father, Witold Hulanicki, was assassinated by the nationalist organisation Lehi in Jerusalem in 1948, and the family moved to Brighton , England. While studying from 1954 to 1956 at the Brighton School of Art , Hulanicki won an Evening Standard competition in 1955 for beachwear. She began her career in fashion as
612-640: The largest developments in London over several decades, and Regent's Place near Warren Street Station . Since October 2012 British Land and the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global had each owned 50% stakes in Meadowhall , one of the UK's largest shopping centres based in Sheffield . An agreement between Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and British Land was signed on 18 May 2024 for NBIM to acquire
646-476: The lease on its Triton Square London Office. Meta reportedly had 18 years left on its lease at the time. As of 31 March 2023 the company owned a portfolio valued at £5.7 billion. The portfolio includes a large amount of property which has been purchased from and leased back to major retailers such as Tesco , Sainsbury's , House of Fraser and Asda . This includes the Broadgate Estate , one of
680-549: The morning after the dress was advertised in the Daily Mirror , over 4,000 orders had been received. Ultimately, some 17,000 outfits were sold. Following this success, Biba moved to new, enhanced premises in Kensington Church Street . This store operated more a department store than a boutique as it sold men’s clothing, cosmetics, jewellery, and furnishings, aside from women’s clothes. Hulanicki worked as
714-610: The platform's founders in Miami, where she is now based. Hulanicki received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2010 Hulanicki was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to the fashion industry. British Land Company The British Land Company Public Limited Company is one of the largest property development and investment companies in
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#1732772602969748-648: The public by mail order. The first store, in Abingdon Road in Kensington , was opened in September 1964. Biba's postal boutique had its first significant success in May 1964 when it offered a pink gingham dress with a hole cut out of the back of the neck with a matching triangular kerchief to readers of the Daily Mirror . The dress had celebrity appeal, as a similar dress had been worn by Brigitte Bardot . By
782-474: The rights to the Biba label. In 2014, Hulanicki agreed to serve as a consultant for Biba, the first time since 1975 that she had been involved with her created brand. In 2021, Hulanicki started a new venture with virtual reality company, BrandLab360, to create a new label titled 'Hula'. The new brand will be sold exclusively to trade buyers on BrandLab 360's digital showroom and was created after Hulanicki met with
816-501: The tower, which is the 6th tallest building in the United Kingdom , began in October 2007 and was completed in 2014. In May 2005 British Land announced that it had agreed to purchase Pillar Property Plc for £811 million in cash to boost its position in the out-of-town retail property sector. In 2006 Sir John Ritblat , who had chaired the company since 1970, stood down and was replaced by Chris Gibson-Smith . In October 2011,
850-559: The two chief architects of the freehold land movement Richard Cobden and John Bright . Both were ardent supporters of a movement to extend enfranchisement. To qualify for a parliamentary vote it was then necessary to be a landowner and the main object of the National Freehold was to facilitate the acquisition of small plots of land by the people. To do this the British Land Co. would purchase land and then resell it on
884-402: The use of Biba's logo and similar labels, these garments are easy to pass off as original vintage pieces. The Biba label was relaunched again in May 2006 under designer Bella Freud . Again, Biba's founder, Barbara Hulanicki, was not contacted for the relaunch and said it was 'very, very painful', believing that the new Biba would 'betray its heritage.' Freud's first collection Spring/Summer 2007
918-535: Was " The Girl from Ipanema " by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto , with vocal by Astrud Gilberto . In September 2015, Hulanicki was interviewed on the BBC TV's HARDtalk . She has said: "Now whenever I finish something I take some photographs and say 'goodbye'. When you lose everything, you realise that the only thing you have is what's in your head." In 2009, the British department store group House of Fraser bought
952-451: Was a huge responsibility in terms of expense and organization, but Hulanicki and Fitz felt they needed to "keep moving forward." Because of this massive undertaking, Hulanicki said, "Every time I went into the shop, I was afraid it would be for the last time." No one was aware of how serious the financial difficulties were going to be - and they proved too much for the new entrepreneurs; as a result Dorothy Perkins and Dennis Day came to save
986-425: Was announced that Hulanicki would be a consultant to the Biba brand, after signing an agreement with House of Fraser. Biba continued to be an HoF brand as of 2024. 51°30′05″N 0°11′32″W / 51.5013°N 0.1921°W / 51.5013; -0.1921 Barbara Hulanicki Barbara Hulanicki OBE (b. 1936) is a fashion designer, born in Warsaw , Poland, to Polish parents and best known as
1020-513: Was based on the Biba logo and had a picture describing the department. These were commissioned by Thomas and Whitmore and designed by Kasia Charko . The store had an Art Deco-interior reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood and non-traditional displays, such as a giant Snoopy and his doghouse in the children's department, where merchandise based on the Peanuts comic strip was sold. In
1054-514: Was highly successful, outselling House of Fraser's other in-house brands in just two weeks of its launch, boosting its year end sales. Meanwhile, Hulanicki instead designed capsule collections for rival high-street company Topshop , and once again expressed her unhappiness with the relaunch, attacking the new Biba as "too expensive" and "for failing to reflect the original Biba style". She also signed with Asda to produce three to four collections of clothing retailing between £11 and £18. In 2014, it
Biba - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-563: Was located on the fifth floor of the department store. The restaurant, which served 1,200 lunches per day, became a major hang-out for rock stars such as the New York Dolls and Liberace , but which was not solely the reserve of the elite. With all of these renovations and additions, Biba became known as a "theatre for fashion." Also at the site was the Kensington Roof Gardens , which are still there today. Big Biba
1122-462: Was occupied by squatters . The Dorothy Perkins shareholders decided that the Derry & Toms building that housed Big Biba was worth more than the ailing business itself. In 1975, the Derry & Toms interiors were replaced by the utilitarian interiors for Marks & Spencer and British Home Stores. Dorothy Perkins sold the trademark to a consortium with no connection to Barbara Hulanicki, who opened
1156-415: Was unveiled at London Fashion Week in September 2006, and was criticised for straying from the original concept of low-priced clothes for teenagers, needing 'more polish', as they 'had a Biba flavour but lacked the retro details that the original Biba designs had.' Freud's second attempt, Autumn/Winter 2007 was also panned as 'the kind of thing that's already over-available in fast fashion chains.' Freud left
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