Biba and Beyond: Barbara Hulanicki

Fantastic exhibition at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery examining the work of the designer Barbara Hulanicki who created and ran Biba.

The exhibition was beautifully arranged with commentary round the edges of the galleries and a wonderful concentration of clothes in the middle. It was like walking a Jacky magazine! There was a good balance between a design and a business history of the company and it really emphasised why the shop was so revolutionary at the time and how it changed the outlook of the retail trade.

The best element was the bit that was out of the curator’s hands and that was listening to the women who were going round the exhibition pointing out to friends and daughters pieces that had owned. It became a living piece of social history. I am a bit too young for Biba but could see how the pieces there had influences the clothes I bought as  teenager!  

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