Biba & Beyond – What Would You Ask Barbara Hulanicki?

With a few internal squeals of excitement that was the question I was asked to answer a few weeks ago.

I was contacted by Visit Brighton and asked to submit a question to be put to Barbara Hulanicki as part of their promotional video for the Biba & Beyond Exhibition that opens in September. In the 90s I adored Biba style and was always very disappointed that my Mum was “too poor” in the 70s to afford to buy anything from there that she could have passed on. The Art Deco influences in the store and the clothes still appeal to me now, and Barbara and Biba are both Fashion legends, so to be asked to be involved, even from a distance, made my heart go pitter pat.

The beautiful Biba make up counter

I sent over a couple of questions, in the hope of avoiding duplicates, and Visit Brighton picked one to put to Barbara.

I asked about her current career, rather than 1970s Biba. Barbara has collaborated on collections with brands like Topshop and George at Asda, so I was intrigued to know if she planned any further collaborations with affordable fashion ranges. Basically I wanted to know if there were going to be pretty frocks I could afford any time soon….

This was her answer…