Seamless from Biba

Hey there kitty cats! Today is a bit of a different post for y’all but one in my fashion forté nonetheless. If you’ve been reading my lil’ ole’ blog for a while, you might remember that I recently won House of Fraser’s award for Best Fashion Blog (if you missed it, you can view my video here and read my blog posts about it here and here). As part of my prize, I was super excited to be able to choose a handbag from House of Fraser‘s concessions and so began my love affair with Biba.

As part of my visit, I was taught the history of Biba by a brand expert at House of Fraser and shown around their current collections. I learnt all about Biba creator, Barbara Hulanicki, and the super retro 1960’s designs that herald right back to the models, trends and fashions of that era. All this vintage wonderfulness swayed my decision to choose a beautiful Biba handbag as my prize and since then I have gone on to fall in love with the brand, even splashing out on my very favourite red leopard print faux fur coat.

So kittens, as part of my learning curve about this heritage fashion label, I recently got my paws on this fabulous hard-back book designed by the lady herself, Barbara Hulanicki. I’m super lucky to have a preview of this gorgeous book, combining two of my main loves (fashion and reading) which is due to be released to the general public later on this week…

Where to start? This book is absolutely beautiful. Aside from the words, this really is a stunning piece that would add a whole lot of fashion fabulosity to any coffee table, as well as a couple of retro points thrown in. Even if you aren’t a fan of reading, this book is definitely worth a flick through for the illustrations alone. It is so bright, colourful and vintage-esque that I can’t stop looking through it, and every time I do, I find more patterns and designs that catch my eye. 

In terms of content itself, it sites the life of designer and artist Barbara Hulanicki, a legend in the fashion and design
world. Her label Biba, and the shops of the same name, are
inseparable from late sixties and early seventies glamour. In
the space of a few years Biba went from a small mail-order
business to a five-storey boutique on Kensington High Street
frequented by, among many others, the Stones, David Bowie
and Marianne Faithful. It became legendary, an essential
part of the London landscape of the time, offering for the
first time real glamour on a budget, and the label retains an
iconic status.

Kittens, this book truly tells the tale (or tail) of a total glamour puss and fashion legend, which is what I have enjoyed most about reading this beautiful item. Barbara Hulanicki was born in
Poland but raised in England. She began as a freelance fashion illustrator for British Vogue, the Times, Observer and Sunday Times, and started Biba in 1964, with her late husband, Stephen Fitz-Simon. Its subsequent success is the stuff of legend, and when Biba closed its doors in 1976 she went on to work for Fiorucci and Cacherel as well as designing a children’s range for the Japanese market and publishing a memoir From A to Biba in 1983. 

Our Barbs worked as a fashion photographer before reinventing herself as an interior designer with huge success in Miami Beach. She has designed wallpaper, paint and new clothes ranges for George and Topshop. Barbara was even awarded an OBE in 2012 and an RDI in 2008, has honorary doctorates from several institutions and has won awards in many fields, including one from the American Institute of Architects for her interior design work. Now in her seventies, she is as active as ever, dividing her time between Miami Beach and London. Phew – she deserves a rest!

But while Biba launched her (and arguably, is what she is most remembered for), Barbara has had a hugely
successful and hugely varied career since. As an interior
designer she is almost singlehandedly responsible for the regeneration of the once unfashionable but now
rejuvenated Art Deco district of Miami Beach, through a
series of commissions for Chris Blackwell – among them the
Netherland, Marlin and Kent Hotels – Ronnie Wood’s ‘Woody’s
on the Beach’ and work for Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Oh, to live a life like that!

Seamless from Biba is a super retro and fabulously designed pictorial celebration of every aspect of Barbara’s
work, designed by Barbara herself with all her well-known
eye for colour and detail. Personally, I love it and will treasure it as a work of art itself! There are sections on:
illustration; photography; product design; interior design; costumes; print design; Biba. There truly is a section for every kitten!