Barbara Hulanicki

Barbara Hulanicki (b. 1936) is a Polish - English fashion designer, born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and best known as the founder of clothes store Biba.

Early life

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.

Career

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 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 called Biba's Postal Boutique that was featured in the fashion columns of newspapers such as the London's Daily Mirror. She named the business Biba, after the nickname of her sister Biruta. In 1964, based on the success of her mail-order business, she opened her Biba shop in a street off Kensington High Street in 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 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 a Biba employee.