History of 1960s Fashion and Textiles History of 1960s Fashion and Textiles The 1960s was a decade of sweeping change throughout the fashion world generating ideas and images which still appear modern today. Whereas fashion had previously been aimed at a wealthy, mature elite, the tastes and preferences of young people now became important. At the beginning of the decade, the market was dominated by Parisian designers of expensive haute couture garments. Formal suits for women underwent a structural change resulting in looser lines and shorter skirts. Yet the shape of clothes was soon transformed by new ideas emerging from the London pop scene. In Britain, musical taste and styles of dress were closely linked and it was the mod look which first popularised the simple geometric shapes typical of the 1960s. By the mid-sixties, the flared A-line was in style for dresses, skirts and coats. Slim fitting, brightly coloured garments were sold cheaply in boutiques all over 'Swinging London' and had tremendous influence throughout Europe and the US. Men's suits became sleeker and were often accessorised with bright, bold shirts and high-heeled boots.

The flamboyant look was in, signalled by wider trousers and lapels, like those belonging to the blue checked Tommy Nutter suit seen below. Designers experimented with shiny new waterproof materials with a modern look like PVC and perspex. Paco Rabanne pioneered dresses made from plastic discs and metal links which looked more like sculpture than clothing. Later in the decade the hippy look, which originated on the West Coast of America, crossed the Atlantic. This was a time when designers of dress and textiles experimented with colours, patterns and textures borrowed from non-Western cultures. As ethnic influences took over, the most fashionable people wore long layers of loose clothing in vivid, clashing colours, typified by Thea Porter's kaftans and Pucci's dazzling prints. Couture Suit, John Cavanagh, 1963. Museum no. T84+A-1974. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London The clothes of French designers like Balenciaga and Dior represented sophisticated elegance and were worn by women in high society. Public figures like Jacquie Kennedy began to favour less formal items such as shorter skirts. Fewer people now wore accessories like hats and gloves.

Another important Continental influence was Italian design, which from the mid-1950s had inspired a smart, sleek look particularly in menswear. Mods in Britain insisted on tailor-made attire, choosing materials and cut for maximum impact. As this younger generation began to develop a distinct style of dress, demand grew for less traditional, more affordable outfits. The exclusive attitude of the couture houses seemed dated. Eventually, haute couture was forced to imitate popular clothing in a reversal of the usual 'top downwards' movement of fashion. Courrèges, Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent were among those who adapted brilliantly to these new circumstances. Most well-known designers started to sell their own off-the-peg ranges through department stores. Street Style Mini dress, Mary Quant, 1964. Museum no. T.353-1974. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London Young people's income was at its highest since the end of the Second World War, creating the desire for a wardrobe which did more than simply copy adult dress. The clothes aimed specifically at young people which Mary Quant had been designing since the late 1950s became popular.

Boutiques, like Quant's Bazaar and Barbara Hulanicki's Biba provided inexpensively made clothing suited to a busy, urban lifestyle. Instead of buying outfits designed for specific occasions or times of the day, people preferred separates which they could combine in different ways. The miniskirt was the most eye-catching garment of the decade, designed for an ideally skinny female form. Women wore pale foundation and emphasised their eyes with kohl, mascara and false eyelashes. Hair was long and straight or worn in a shaped bob or wedge, as invented by the hairdresser Vidal Sassoon. Designers of clothes and textiles celebrated modernity. Space-age silver was mixed with primary coloured prints taken from Pop and Op Art. Novel fashion materials were introduced, including shiny, wet-look PVC, easy-care acrylics and polyesters. The Peacock Revolution Suit, Tommy Nutter, 1969. Museum no. T.75 :1-3-1996. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London Perhaps the most remarkable development in 1960s dress was the dramatic change in menswear.

For the past 150 years, clothing for men had been tailor-made and plain and dark in appearance. Now, following trends which first appeared in gay fashions, colourful elements were introduced, such as the collarless jacket, worn with slim-fitting trousers and boots. During the mid-1960s frills and cravats came back in, together with vividly printed shirts. Finally, lapels and trousers took on exaggeratedly wide dimensions. Clothing became increasingly unisex as men and women shopped at the same boutiques for similar items. Textiles Heal's, Hull Traders and Conran Fabrics all bought patterns from young freelance designers who took their inspiration from contemporary art and graphics like Andy Warhol's Pop images and the dazzling Op art paintings of Bridget Riley. Brightly coloured large-scale geometric repeats were favourites for both dress and furnishing fabrics. Later in the decade, floral patterns were seen everywhere. Victorian decor was rediscovered and motifs borrowed from Art Nouveau and Art Deco were given a new lease of life by the addition of psychedelic colours. Counter culture Kaftan, Zandra Rhodes, 1969. Museum no. T.358-1974.

© Victoria & Albert Museum, London During the late 1960s, there was a reaction against the mass production of mod clothing and pop products which had brought bright new styles into European and American homes and wardrobes. Some people became disillusioned by this materialistic mood and turned to Eastern cultures and mythologies which appeared more in tune with the 'natural' world. North American influences dominated during the later part of the decade. Journalist Tom Wolfe's 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' and the film 'Easy Rider' examined a counter culture which had its roots in the West Coast of America. The end of the decade saw worldwide anti-Vietnam War protests. Meanwhile in France, students and workers united in violent uprisings against De Gaulle's conservative government. A cosmopolitan view was reflected in fashion by Ossie Clark, Jean Muir, Thea Porter and Zandra Rhodes, all of whom experimented with non-traditional tailoring and colourful prints, showing an interest in ethnic garments. Secondhand attire was sought after and even items like military dress were worn for their decorative qualities. Shopping Boots, Barbara Hulanicki, 1969-70. Museum no.

T.67+A-1985. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London Shops played an important part in popularising new fashions. Whole areas of London like the King's Road and Carnaby Street were transformed as boutiques took over. Boutiques sold an inexpensive range of rapidly changing outfits and offered an informal atmosphere and self-service, unlike traditional clothes shops. At the same time, quirky interior decorations and pop music lent the boutique an individuality which was lacking in the newly built chain stores which were taking over the high street. John Stephen was one of the first to open a boutique selling menswear on Carnaby Street. Demand was such that he ended up owning eight more shops in the same location. Meanwhile, Michael Fish established Mr. Fish, selling psychedelic-inspired outfits provocatively close to Savile Row. Exotically named outlets opening their doors on the King's Road included Bazaar and Michael Rainey's Hung On You. Other Chelsea shops were Nigel Waymouth's Granny Takes A Trip, where fashionable hippies shopped for antique clothing, and Quorum run by Ossie Clark and Alice Pollock.

Biba's first premises were an old chemist's shop in Kensington, but the business eventually expanded to take over a huge 1930s-built department store on Kensington High Street, where Barbara Hulanicki held parties in the roof garden. Another new approach was taken by Terence Conran in his shop Habitat. Inspired by furniture shops he had seen in Scandinavia, he displayed goods in a minimal pine interior, stacked in piles as though they were in a warehouse. Conran was successful in marketing well-designed domestic goods, including home furnishings, at relatively low prices. Media and Society 'Lunar Rocket', furnishing fabric, Eddie Squires, 1969. Museum no. CIRC.45-1970. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London Marshall McLuhan's 1964 book 'Understanding Media' charted the rise of new technologies like television which had the potential, he claimed, to transform the world into a 'global village'. It was now possible for media images of the US Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War to be transmitted worldwide within hours, leading to greater political awareness. Attitudes towards class and sex were also affected by greater coverage in the media.

At the beginning of the decade, the programme 'That Was The Week That Was' with David Frost and Jonathan Miller and the magazine 'Private Eye' edited by Peter Cooke, satirised British politics and society. They highlighted the class divisions in Britain, underlining the fact that power was in the hands of a small circle of wealthy families. British working class life was portrayed in films like 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning', 'A Taste of Honey' and 'Alfie'. The main character of Antonioni's 'Blow Up' was said to be based on the photographer David Bailey, immortalising the legend of Swinging London. London was portrayed as a city in which talented young people could succeed, regardless of their background. Pioneers like Mary Quant and Barbara Hulanicki showed that women could be professionally successful. The 1960s is often remembered as an era of sexual freedom. The pill provided women with a reliable method of contraception while abortion was legalised and homosexuality was decriminalised. TV provided fashion role models like Cathy McGowan, famous for her mod outfits, who presented the weekly chart hit show 'Ready Steady Go'. 'The Avengers' was notable for the sexy clothing worn by Diana Rigg's character Emma Peel.

'Nova', 'Honey' and 'Petticoat' magazines were created to appeal to teenage girls interested in clothes, while the 'Sunday Times' published the first weekend colour supplement with articles on lifestyle and interior decoration. Music 'Royal Engineers', Jacket, Unknown, 1914. Museum no. T.829-1994. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London The 1950s music scene had been dominated by US rock 'n roll, but from the start of the 1960s, bands like the Beatles and the Stones, the Kinks and The Who revitalised British pop. Musicians often pioneered alternative ways of dressing, as can be seen from photographs of these bands as they began their careers attired in mod outfits, complete with straight-combed hairstyles. By the latter part of the decade most had swapped these for psychedelic gear, facial hair and a growing interest in music from other continents like India. Important American musical contributions came from Bob Dylan and West Coast groups associated with the folk and hippy movements like the Mamas and the Papas, Peter, Paul and Mary and the Jefferson Airplane.

The decade ended with the free festival 'Woodstock' held in a rural part of New York state and headlined by progressive rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. Celebrities Evening dress, Leonard Joseph, 1968. Museum no. T.297-1974. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London This was an era when those who wore and photographed clothing for a living could become famous overnight. Lesley Hornby, known as 'Twiggy', was a sensation at fifteen years of age when her large eyes, and rake-thin, under-developed figure were hailed as the most extreme version of the mod look. David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton transformed the fashion pages of women's magazines as Bailey snapped Shrimpton in informal poses. Others who photographed top models included John French, Terence Donovan, Brian Duffy and Ron Traeger. They filled the pages of 'Vogue' and 'Elle' with images of Celia Hammond, Penelope Tree, Verushka and Marisa Berenson (the granddaughter of Elsa Schiaparelli).

Ideals of beauty became more inclusive as black models like the Americans Donyale Luna and Naomi Sims starred in fashion shoots. Paper Dresses Paper dresses were a brief but spectacular Sixties sensation. They were cheap and disposable, and their simple 2-D shape was ideal for the bold graphic prints that were so fashionable. Some were produced as free gifts to promote paper products, and though prone to tearing and creasing, they were marketed as 'instant fun from London'. 1000+ images about biba on Pinterest | The 1960s, Photographs and Helmut newton Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas biba Biba foi uma das mais famosas butiques de moda feminina dos anos 60 e 70. Fundada em Londres, em 1964, por Barbara Hulanicki, na Abingdon Road, ganhou fama mundial por criar e vender roupas próprias de qualidade prêt-à-porter de alta costura por preços acessíveis às jovens de classe média britânica na Swinging London dos anos 60.

191 Pins150.63k Followers 1000+ images about Barbara Hulanicki at George on Pinterest | Red tape, Heart print and Jersey dresses Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Barbara Hulanicki at George Barbara Hulanicki founded the Biba label of the 1960s that brought high fashion to the high street – and her collections with George have once again made fashion affordable for everyone. 48 Pins2.82k Followers Barbara Hulanicki - Fashion Designer | Designers | The FMD Barbara Hulanicki A word from the EIC Partnerships / Cooperations Become a fashion editor on FMD Content / Usage Questions Why am I listed on FMD? How can I submit content?

Credifair (credit for your work) DMCA + Content MGMT the pure fashion news agency January 17th ASAP Rocky and Boy George Star in Dior Homme's New Campaign Irina Shayk Lands Two Vogue Brazil Covers Weekly News roundup: Jan 9 - Jan 13 Meet Ify Jones, our January 2017 Model of the Month Visit website About Barbara Hulanicki is a Warsaw- born fashion designer, known for being the founder of the iconic clothes store Biba. Born in Warsaw, to Polish parents, after studying at Brighton Art College, now the University of Brighton, Hulanicki won a London Evening Standard competition for beachwear in 1955. She began her career in fashion as a freelance fashion illustrator, covering all the important fashion collections for the major publications of the day, including Women's Wear Daily, British Vogue, the Times, the Observer and the Sunday Times. In 1964 she founded, with her late husband, Stephen Fitz-Simon, the boutique BIBA, beginning as a small mail-order business featured in the fashion columns of newspapers such as the DAILY MIRROR.

After a few false starts and refusing to give up, their last-ditched attempt -- a pink gingham dress with a round hole in the back and a matching head scarf -- strikes a chord with the public and sells thousands of units, allowing them to open a store which becomes an icon of hip 60's and 70's London. The shop soon became famous for its stylishly decadent atmosphere and lavish decor inspired by Art Nouveau and Art Deco. It became a hangout for artists film stars and rock musicians. In the shop affordable mini-skirts, floppy felt hats, feather boas, velvet trouser suits and unisex T-shirts dyed in rich, muted colors were eagerly snapped up by a young clientele. Anna Wintour got her start in fashion as a Biba employee. The first Biba store was a small Chemist's shop in Abingdon Road, but by the time Biba's doors closed in 1976 it had evolved into an elaborate 5-story Art Deco department store with a restaurant and a roof garden overlooking High Street Kensington. The avant-garde BIBA cosmetics brand was being sold in 33 countries across the globe.

After the closure of Biba, Hulanicki continued to work in the fashion industry, designing for such fashion designers as Fiorucci and Cacharel and for twelve years, from 1980 to 1992, designed a successful line of children's wear, Minirock, licensed to the Japanese market. In 1980, she returned to the UK from living in glamorous Brazil to open a series of clothing boutiques and start a make-up line, all under her own name. From 1980 to 1987, she dabbled in fashion photography for the London Evening Standard and returned briefly to fashion illustration to draw Sarah Ferguson's wedding dress for the London newspapers. In 1983 she wrote her memoirs in the book FROM A TO BIBA, which was published by Hutchinson's. In 1987 she arrived in Miami Beach where she reinvented herself yet again as a designer of interiors and exteriors, single-handedly reconceiving Miami Beach's then re-emerging Art Deco District. Her projects began with Woody's on the Beach, which she designed in 1987 for Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones.

She created a series of restaurants, night clubs and super-clubs, including Who's in the Grove, Sempers, Match Club and Bolero Restaurant. From 1992 to 1997 she worked for Gloria and Emilio Estefan designing the interiors for their personal recording studios, the interiors of the Cardozo Hotel on Ocean Drive, their private home on Star Island, costumes for the music video "Mi Buen Amor", as well as consulting on BONGO, the Estefan's restaurant project in Disney World, Orlando, with the Architectonica Group. From 1990 to the present, Hulanicki has perhaps had the most impact on Miami Beach through her work for Chris Blackwell and his Island Outpost Group. She has twice reconceived the MARLIN Hotel, on Collins Avenue, as well as the CAVALIER Hotel, Ocean Drive, the LESLIE Hotel, Ocean drive, The NETHERLANDS building, Ocean Drive, and now the KENT on Collins Avenue.

Other Caribbean properties she has designed for Blackwell include the COMPASS POINT Hotel and beach resort in Nassau, Bahamas - which is prominently featured in all the Bahamian Tourist Board television commercials - the PINK SANDS resort on Harbor Island, Bahamas. In 1993 Hulanicki won an award from the American Institute of Architects for her work on the NETHERLANDS, as well as an award from an association of Florida Architects. From 2001 to 2002 she worked on the Island life Ministore, located in the heart of Miami Beach on Ocean Drive. This unique shop was renovated completely by Hulanicki at owner Chris Blackwell's request. Coined as "tropical lux," this lifestyle store contained a large collection of gift items, music and film, jewelry and accessories from around the world. It also boasted men's, women's and children's apparel custom colored and designed by Hulanicki herself. The crowning achievement of Hulanicki's impact can be witnessed in the opening of the Hollywood hit movie "The Birdcage".

A sweeping helicopter shot flows over the waves to zero in on the primary location for the film, the Cleveland Hotel on Ocean Drive which is flanked by no less than four Hulanicki-designed buildings - the Leslie, the Cardozo, the Cavalier and the Netherlands. British retailer Topshop opened a New York store in April 2009 and, late the same month, launched a highly anticipated collection featuring Hulanicki's designs available both instores and online. Hulanicki was approached by Topshop buyers at an exhibition of her illustrations in a London gallery which resulted in a final collection featuring billowing chiffon dresses and blouses reminiscent of the original Biba style. Alongside these were several highly covetable jersey pieces printed with Barbara's original illustrations, bikinis and a cropped suede jacket. The collection has been extremely successful for Topshop with rails stripped within minutes. An autumn/winter collection is currently in production expected to be released by the end of the year. Released the same month was a handbag she designed for the Italian label Coccinelle, also featuring her art nouveau style, which was favourably reviewed by the website Handbag.

Additionally, throughout her career, Hulanicki has designed costumes for several stage and film productions, including clothing for Cathy McGowan on the influential live TV rock show "READY STEADY GO" (1964), outfits for Julie Christie in "DARLING" (1965), costumes for local productions in Miami Beach, costumes for old friend and Biba model Twiggy for "CAPTAIN BEAKY" in London's West End and her Royal Command Performance in 1976. Who Wears It Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Marianne Faithfull, Cathy McGowan, Profile 1000+ images about BIBA FASHION on Pinterest | The 1960s, Catwalk and Swinging london Forward The first famous Biba store opened in Kensington in 1964. Biba was an iconic and popular London fashion store of the 1960s and 1970s. It was started and primarily run by the Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki with help of her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon.

See more Mary Quant - a new approach: Chelsea 1955–1967 Window dressing at Bazzar, 138a King's Road, 1959. © Getty Images 'Snobbery has gone out of fashion, and in our shops you will find duchesses jostling with typists to buy the same dresses.' Mary Quant Around this time a group of young artists, film directors and socialites gravitated towards the King's Road. Known by the media as the 'Chelsea Set', they made the name Chelsea synonymous with a new way of living and dressing. Mary Quant's boutique, set up in 1955, epitomised this new philosophy and set the standard for later entrepreneurs. Called Bazaar, it was known for its surreal window displays and eclectic mix of clothes, accessories and costume jewellery. The clothes were decidedly modern. 'I want relaxed clothes,' said Quant, 'suited to the actions of normal life'. With Quant's husband Alexander Plunkett Greene and friend Archie McNair providing the business backup, the venture was profitable, though it appeared chaotic. Some of the goods were sourced from art students, or made up overnight, and the mini shift dress soon became Quant's trademark.

Retail innovation: Knightsbridge 1961–1967 'A whole new world of retail sprang up.' Felicity Green In the 1950s Knightsbridge was dominated by the stuffy department stores frequented by debutantes and their mothers. The first traditional store to cater specifically for the youth market was Woollands. In 1961, inspired by Mary Quant, it opened the '21 Shop' as an in-store boutique for young working women. 21 Shop sold clothes that were 'simple, zany, not for squares'. The buyer, 22-year-old Vanessa Denza, sought out new talent in the Royal College of Art and worked closely with young designers. Brilliant at turnover, she could get an order of 1000 dresses delivered within a week and sold a week later. 'Like a dam bursting' (to use Denza's phrase) other retailers soon followed her lead, with Young Jaeger, Harrods' Way In and Miss Selfridge establishing themselves as household names. Unlike her art school peers, Jean Muir learned her trade in the fashion industry.

Celebrated as a gifted dressmaker, she worked for Liberty, Jaeger and Jane and Jane during the 1950s and '60s. Her clothes were always a subtle demonstration of the sculptural qualities of fabric, with suede a particular favourite. Menswear revolution: Piccadilly 1964–1970 'I remember going to Turnbull & Asser and having a bright pink shirt made, then being asked to leave the Cavalry Club for wearing it. This happened again in about 1966. I was wearing a white suit made by Blades.... I was asked to leave Annabel's Nightclub for having a white suit on!' David Mlinaric, interior designer. Fashion-conscious young men set out to challenge the staid rules of masculine etiquette that had prevailed since Victorian times. Circulating in the overlapping worlds of fashion, the media and high society, they forged new styles of dress and deportment. The result was the modern dandy, a flamboyant figure in frills and velvet, whose adventurous wardrobe perfectly suited the creative atmosphere of the time. A new group of entrepreneurs, often from aristocratic backgrounds, spotted this shift in taste.

They moved into the area around Piccadilly Circus, long famous for dressing the British gentleman, and opened shops whose peacock products combined traditional tailoring with the design flair of fashion graduates. Many of the new designers had emerged from the first menswear courses, recently set up at the Royal College of Art and London College of Fashion. The results were spectacular, a new 'man about town'. Suit, Tom Gilbey, about 1968. Museum nos. T.642:1, 2-1995; T.643-1995 Suit, Blades, 1968. Museum no. T.353-1980 The rise of the boutique: King's Road 1965–1970 'The King's Road is a wilderness of stoned harlequins.' Christopher Gibbs, antique dealer. Mary Quant's Bazaar, 'the grandmother of all the little shops', provided a new way of shopping. Until then, mature women had bought their clothes in department stores or gone to dressmakers, while many young women created their own outfits. Young graduates and enthusiastic amateurs sensed the new spirit in fashion and plunged in.

Taking advantage of cheap rents on the King's Road, they opened their own boutiques among the fish shops and greengrocers, attracting customers with their outlandish names and anarchic window displays. A visit to the King's Road became a journey towards self-expression. On a Saturday afternoon the Rolling Stones and the new pop aristocracy would mix with the crowds, and shoppers emerged transformed, as suede-clad American Indians or romantic heroines in satin and lace. The heart of swinging London: Carnaby Street 1964–1972 Carnaby Street, London, Lord Kitchener, late 1960s 'Working class design, British fashion, Rock and Roll, The Beatles, Carnaby Street... You had all these rebels without causes, and all of a sudden everything came together. The gods smiled.' Robert Orbach, retailer. Carnaby Street became synonymous with the idea of Swinging London. Using the skills of the established Soho 'rag trade', it sold relatively inexpensive, trend-driven merchandise that mirrored contemporary changes in society and culture. In the early days, the clientele was linked to showbusiness.

Then, from the mid 1960s, working-class Mods came flocking into the brash outlets of John Stephen (the 'King of Carnaby Street') in search of sharp Italian-style suits. By 1968 shoppers could also find mini-dresses, kaftans, shirts and accessories provocatively emblazoned with patriotic symbols and counter-cultural slogans. Carnaby Street has often been dismissed as a garish tourist trap. But in its hey-day the clothes and attitude sold there revealed the key Sixties characteristics of innovation, iconoclasm and fun. Above all, they echoed the prevailing spirit of sexual and political revolution. Exoticism and nostalgia: London's bohemia 1967–1973 'Second hand furniture, old houses, old clothes… Oh God, those vast, whitewashed rooms with bare floorboards and a mattress in the corner with an Indian coverlet on it…. The pure asceticism of the late sixties.' Angela Carter, novelist. In the late 1960s futuristic themes gave way to exoticism, romanticism and nostalgia. Drugs, the counter-culture and the hippy trail to India suggested an alternative to the commercial fashion scene.

Rediscovery of Victorian artists such as Aubrey Beardsley and William Morris stimulated a revival of historic and rural styles. The result was an eclectic combination of the ethnic, the antique and the psychedelic. Many of the clothing trends of the early 1970s originated in the decadent milieu of London's bohemian quarters: Chelsea, Notting Hill and Kensington. These districts offered a faded grandeur that appealed to those with limited budgets and boundless imaginations. Large derelict flats and empty retail spaces offered an ideal environment for pop stars, artists and entrepreneurs to develop alternative approaches to life, business and fashion. Biba: Kensington and beyond 1964–1974 Biba, High Street Kensington Shop, london, photograph by Philip Townsend. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London 'The most 'In' shop for gear…. A must scene for the switched on dolly bird.' Time, April 1966. Barbara Hulanicki opened her first Biba store in an old chemist's stop in Abingdon Road in 1964. Her last, and most ambitious, enterprise was to take over Derry & Tom's department store on the High Street in 1973.

What linked all the Biba stores was Hulanicki's skill in creating environments that complimented the romantic, sensual appeal of her clothing. The atmosphere was unique, with loud music, stylish staff, dimly lit period interiors and chaotic changing rooms. The clothes were also good value, so young working women could shop alongside models, singers and TV personalities. Through a combination of mail order, distinctive branding and an understanding ofits customers' dreams, Biba set a template for the 'lifestyle' approach that would go on to support British retail successes in the 1980s and '90s. Out of London: Paris and New York 1965–1968 'They were looking at us and we were looking at them.' Sylvia Ayton, designer. Until the 1960s, London's clothing industry operated in the shadow of the great Parisian couturiers. Paris, with its focus on made-to-measure garments for a fabulously wealthy, elite group of women, was the hub of international fashion. But suddenly, with the growth of the youth market, London began to set the pace.

Paris maintained its edge thanks to a group of young designers trained in the couture tradition but thinking into the future. Fashion houses such as Cardin, Courrèges and Saint Laurent learned to reach younger consumers. They opened ready-to-wear boutiques and concessions in department stores, and created 'space age' garments that were instantly copied in the high street. In the United States, the youth market was massive and department stores made millions by importing London designs. But retailers also realised the potential of the boutique. In New York especially, homegrown boutiques flourished, selling exclusive, avant-garde designs to a sophisticated clientele. Biba | Explore 20th Century London Date Trading Ceased: 1975 The fashion label Biba started as a small boutique in South Kensington, and gradually expanded to become an entire department store. Fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki, with her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon, founded Biba by selling her designs via mail order. They opened their first shop in Abingdon Road, Kensington in 1964. Its popularity increased, and the boutique moved to larger premises in Kensington High Street in 1969, and again in 1971.

Hulanicki drew much of her inspiration from retro styles such as Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Victoriana and the glamour of Hollywood. This nostalgic look was a bold contrast to the existing crisp, modern designs of the time. Biba outfits, with their narrow upper arms and slim-fitting designs, suited slender frames. In 1973, with the financial support of Dorothy Perkins and the Fraser group, Biba moved into the empty Derry & Toms department store also on Kensington High Street. The Biba flagship store sold everything from specially packaged baked beans to satin sheets. Biba had become a lifestyle choice, and shoppers could not only purchase a fully co-coordinated outfit, but also cosmetics, soft furnishings, household products such as washing powder, and food. All goods were presented in the distinctive black and gold Biba packaging. The department store had opulent dcor, which featured black glass counters and parlour palms. Shoppers could also be entertained, drinking cocktails in the Roof Garden, where flamingos also lived, or in the Rainbow Room, where live musical performances took place.

Despite famous customers such as Brigitte Bardot, Princess Anne, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, the store was never the exclusive preserve of the rich and famous. Prices were kept deliberately low, and everyone was encouraged to soak up the glamour of an unforgettable shopping experience. Hulanicki's determination to pursue her vision set her at odds with her backers. In 1975, the shop closed down. The story of Biba and Barbara Hulanicki is typical of the 1960s designer retailers. At this time, there was a strong desire by designers to create a new kind of shop, and they refused to moderate their designs for the mass-market. This was combined with contempt for conventional retailing and business knowledge, making London fashion innovative and unique, but also short-lived in many cases. Lessons from the stylish: Barbara Hulanicki - Telegraph Lessons from the stylish: Barbara Hulanicki Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki talks of growing up in Brighton and her bob.

BY Luke Leitch | 24 June 2013 Barbara Hulanicki Photo: Barbara Hulanicki Not only is she swathed top to toe in black, but today Barbara Hulanicki is wearing black-framed sunglasses. Indoors, at that. Factor in her eyebrow-skimming bob and Hulanicki looks every inch the grande dame de la mode she most certainly is. Related articles Barbara Hulanicki on how to be a stylish seventysomething It is 49 years since Hulanicki founded Biba: the shop, and then the chain of shops, that repositioned retail for the youthquake generation of the Sixties. Before Biba there were only dragonish staff, nowhere to sit and chat… in short, no fun. Biba was the Big Bang of British shopping. Now Hulanicki spends most of her days in flip-flops - she's lived a block back from the beach in Miami for years - but comes across to London every six weeks or so to work with the design team at Asda's label George, for whom she consults ("I think we're on the 26th - or is the 28th? - collection").

And while she appears rather grande, she's far from grand. She laughs like a drain when I suggest that perhaps Anna Wintour might have pinched her bob from Hulanicki. After all, the now almighty US Vogue editor's first job was as a Biba girl when she was still a teenager. "Oh no - I don't think so," Hulanicki obfuscates: "I cut my hair myself one day, years ago when I was 28, felt terribly old, and wanted a change. Anna was very sweet and very quiet when she came: I remember taking her down to Brighton like we did with a lot of the girls." Barbara Hulanicki on how to be a stylish seventysomething Hulanicki was born in Poland, but she spent much of her childhood in Brighton, where her mother and sisters moved after her diplomat father was killed in Palestine. Aged 20, and armed with an art degree, she moved to London to work as a fashion illustrator.

After meeting her husband, Fitz, via the girl she sat next to at work - "Fitz and [the girl's] brother were real party boys, and I heard stories about him for years before meeting him" - Hulanicki began making dresses and selling them by mail-order (her first hit was a gingham homage to Bardot). Then in 1964, almost on a whim, Barbara and Fitz opened up a workshop they were renting - an old chemist's on a side street at the bottom of Chelsea's King's Road - as a shop. "We opened one Saturday with only one dress in stock: a brown pinstripe, sort of a thick smock. One dress, can you imagine? And all in one size because everyone was so thin and small-boned. And people started coming in and buying. And it kept on building and building. We put in sofas, and it was relaxed." Hulanicki's existing network of dressmakers allowed her to stock the new shop with her own designs, and within weeks she had that most vital of assets - a celebrity fan. Cathy McGowan of Ready Steady Go!

discovered Biba, and as well as wearing the clothes on screen raved about them to Cilla Black and her other pop scene girlfriends. By 1966, Biba had moved to Kensington Church Street, from where it kept expanding; into new shops packed with menswear, childrenswear and homewares, with only Hulanicki's ornately expressive William Morrisish aesthetic as their common thematic thread. "We had a department for tweenies that we called the Lolita department. Can you imagine that today? Oh my…" Hulanicki in 1975 PHOTO: HULTON ARCHIVE It was a heady time for Hulanicki and all at-large Londoners, yet she reports: "I never felt the need to take drugs or anything else. Because when you are working hard to create something you get a kind of high anyway." Even so, a downside was on the horizon. In 1976, by which time Biba's flagship Big Biba store boasted four bustling storeys, a contractual wrangle with business partners left her and Fitz with little choice but to cut the cord and divorce themselves from the revolutionary brand they had built between them.

They relocated to Rio, where Barbara dumped many of her old designs on a roadside - "Fitz said they were wearing me down, so we got rid of them. But we drove back for a look. People had crowded around, but looked at the labels and then threw them away again." She laughs again, seemingly with not a jot of regret. Eventually, after never quite running into Ronnie Biggs in Brazil, they returned to London for a while before moving to Miami in the Eighties. Here, Hulanicki became a very successful interior designer - and here she remained after Fitz passed away a decade later. Now happily hermited in the sunshine, Hulanicki says she relishes her life as an interior designer - then adds "but it is so fun to talk to someone in fashion". Her work, she says, is usually quite straightforward because her subjects tend to be hotels or apartment developments. Designing an interior for someone who will live in it, though, can be fraught: "It is a very personal thing, and it never ends. I did a house for a very famous singer in Miami once who had too much money. It went on and on for year.

They would go and see Madonna's house and then come back and want everything white." Barbara Hulanicki: 'American women are terrible dressers' Looking at today's fashion, she says she's more excited by men's designers than women's: "There is a lot of exciting stuff around, mannish but sensible pieces that would be great translated for women." As well as her work for George, Hulanicki has also recently produced Seamless From Biba (Black Spring Press, £25), a coffee-table encyclopedia of her designs that ranges from her earliest illustrations, via Biba, to her latest commissions in the Caribbean and Miami. Interior design's gain was London fashion's loss: for apart from that bob she shares with Wintour, Hulanicki is a one-off, of entirely her own inimitable design. Where do the famous Hulanicki glasses hail from? Cutler & Gross, where I've gone for a very long time. You can get the proper lenses put in. My eyesight is horrendous - I have to get one of them zonked, I can't wait. Do you have a piece of jewellery you treasure? No, not any more.

My wedding ring got stuck on my finger, which swelled up not long ago. They had to cut it off. Not my finger, the ring. I was terribly upset and low about it afterwards. Favourite designers? I like Rick Owens. And Gareth Pugh: oh my, his things are amazingly dramatic. What do you like to wear every day? Flip-flops and a T-shirt. You can be a real slob in Miami. In fact, if you dress up they think you are a bit off. And if you dress in a suit then it means you work behind a desk in a hotel. What do you dislike wearing? Skirts. And where do you like shopping on the British high street? I rather like Topshop. It is growing up a bit. The 1960s Mini Skirt Fashion History - Mary Quant . 1960s Talent Talent was the prerequisite to success in the 1960s. For the first time ever in any fashion era, the young became the leaders of fashion. They led with new and radically innovative fashion styles, with little girl woman androgynous looks for women that swept away the sophisticated sweater girls of the early sixties.

The picture of Twiggy in the header defines her as the epitome of a sixties baby doll woman. Fifties Fashion Hangs on until 1966 In the 21st century it's easy to associate all 1960s fashion with short skirts, but the short skirt was not really worn by many until 1966 and not nationwide until 1967. Just as in the 1920s for half a decade clothes still showed signs of belonging to the late fifties. The fore runner of the mini dress the straight shift, which had developed from the 1957 sack dress , was still well below the knee. In the early sixties, pleated skirts set on a hip yoke basque were worn with short sleeved over blouses which were cut not unlike the shell tops of today. Straight skirts had front and back inverted pleats called kick pleats and were ideal for doing the twist dance craze as they allowed the knee to move freely. Straight sweater dresses in lambswool or the synthetic acrylic variety called Orlon were worn belted with waists nipped in became fashionable.

Pencil skirts were still worn with sweaters or even back to front cardigans that had been pressed super flat. Before the days of tumble driers many women lay their washed rung out knitwear in paper tissue and then brown paper. They put it to dry under a carpet for two days. When it was removed from the tissue, the footsteps that had pounded over the knit gave it a flat dry cleaned as new appearance. Laundering of delicates could still be a problem, but everything changed when mass produced synthetic garments arrived. ï¿½ï¿½ Mary Quant and the Mini Skirt By 1966 Mary Quant was producing short waist skimming mini dresses and skirts that were set 6 or 7 inches above the knee. It would not be right to suggest she invented the fashion mini skirt. In 1965 she took the idea from the 1964 designs by Courrï¿½ges and liking the shorter styles she made them even shorter for her boutique Bazaar. She is rightly credited with making popular a style that had not taken off when it made its earlier debut. Quant found London girls seeking newness only too willing to try her new daring short mini skirt.

The fashion trend took off because it was so different and to wear it well you had to be youthful to get away with an outfit that was so controversial, particularly among adults. The Quant style was soon known as the Chelsea Look. You are reading an original 'The 1960s Mini Skirt' fashion article by Pauline Weston Thomas at © Right - The length of a typical late sixties short mini skirt. The shapes Quant designed were simple, neat, clean cut and young. They were made from cotton gabardines and adventurous materials like PVC used in rain Macs. They almost always featured little white girly collars. The Mid-1960's Hairstyle Left - The five point hairstyle that says 1960s. Mary Quant also sported a sharply cut geometric hairstyle. One of the most famous and favoured cuts of the era was the 5 point cut by Vidal Sassoon. The hairstyles and the short mine skirts and min dresses made the mid and late sixties fashion look. Right - Provincial more bouffant variations of the asymmetric cut fringe circa 1968.

The Unsung Mini Skirt Inventor - John Bates John Bates was one of the most influential British designers of the 1960s. Ernestine Carter the fashion historian thought him the unsung inventor of the mini skirt. His mini dresses were the shortest, had the barest midriffs and the models wore the least undergarments - he preferred a bra-less silhouette. In 1959 he had set up the Jean Varon label and later a label under his own name. His influence in the sixties was such that he dressed Diana Rigg in The Avengers series. Other celebrities of the day such as Twiggy, Sandie Shaw, Jean Shrimpton and Dusty Springfield all wore his fashion designs. But so did the masses as he also designed for important key department stores in the UK. John Bates has never been given enough credit for his role in the rise of the mini skirt. The facts are that John Bates was making shorter skirts long before others. But Mary Quant was the facilitator of this novel idea who was really noticed. She got the mini skirt out among trendy young girls about town and it soon became copied and popular everywhere.

Quant was copied everywhere and another famous name of the sixties was Barbara Hulanicki of Biba. Biba of course was a sixties hit with girls who loved fashionable and funky looks at a value price. That Was The Week That Was ...(v4r) The London TV Saturday night programme 'That Was The Week That Was', watched by half the UK nation had some time earlier shown a model wearing a dress with a belt that enabled the model to lift the dress up showing the possible various shorter lengths that designers were forecasting hemlines would rise to in the next six months. The audience laughed and gasped and viewers across Britain tittered, but within less than a year the shorter length was firmly established with under twenties and soon after their mothers too began wearing a short mini skirt. Typical of the era the opening lines of the show were 'that was the week that was, it's over let it go...' It was typical of the 1960's attitude of let's get on with the future, making it a very fast moving decade in fashion, lifestyles, innovations and morals. The fashion mini skirt became one of the icons that symbolized this era.

You are reading an original 'The 1960s Mini Skirt' fashion article by Pauline Weston Thomas at © Death of Stockings What made the mini really acceptable was the introduction of pantyhose known mostly today as tights. It was hard to wear a mini dress with stockings and feel confident, but with tights there was protection from the elements and no unsightly glimpse of stocking tops. Stockings died in the mid 1960s and were only revived as leg wear in the 1990s or else kept for the bedroom. Pantyhose When tights were first introduced in the 1960s it liberated women from girdles , roll-ons and suspender belts . It's difficult to know which came first the skirt or the tights, but the introduction of seamless stockings had started the tights revolution. What is certain it is unlikely the one could have existed without the other as no groomed young lady ever went out bare legged then. A pair of Wolsey tights cost about ï¿½1 in 1965 and with careful daily washing they could be made to last a month. Marks and Spencer was soon churning out lower cost versions.

Obviously planned obsolescence has been introduced since then for all brands, as most of us now find it difficult to make them last for more than a day or two's wear. Tights in the late 60s were often patterned with arrangements of diamonds or other motifs and a favourite colour of the era was a golden brown called American Tan. Fishnet tights were also popular briefly. Lurex glitter tights in gold or silver were a hit for the Christmas period. ï¿½ 1960s Footwear Lower kitten heels were a dainty alternative to stilettos Pointed toes gave way to chisel shaped toes in 1961 and to an almond toe in 1963. Flat boots also became popular with very short dresses in 1965 and eventually they rose up the leg and reached the knee. A cult for Dr. Scholl clog sandals worn in offices and outdoors was all the rage in the mid to late sixties in the same way that Birkenstocks were popular in the 1990s. Pinafores and Knits Knitted twin sets were still worn, but often the items were worn as separates.

Square, V or round neck pinafore dresses in plain or tartan wool fabrics were teamed with polo neck jumpers or tie neck blouses. Other combinations were burgundy plum pinafores worn with white or mustard blouses. A sleeved variation of the button through version of the pinafore was called a coat dress and it was worn with or without a skinny rib fitting sweater. It was often worn with a half belt at the back waist. All clothes were narrow shouldered and cut in at the armholes to properly reveal the arm and its shoulder joint. Even short sleeve versions were set well into the armscye. Left - Dresses of 1967 with cutaway armholes Baby doll dresses of 1966 were full and flared into tent shapes mostly with cutaway armholes or/and a halter neck. They were made of transparent tulles, lace or chiffons plain or tree bark mounted over a matching lining or could be made of crinkled cotton crepe fabrics. Lace of all types from Broderie Anglaise to guipure to crochet effects over coloured linings or flesh toned linings were often seen.

Black polo neck sweaters made popular by the Beatles cover album were often worn under check pinafore dresses. The dresses were usually solid colours of red or purple wool material. Checks of black and white such as dog or hound's-tooth or Prince of Wales check. Black and white was a sixties combination and was used in op art dresses and block pieced dresses worked in Mondrian style. Black patent accessories complimented all these combinations. One of the easiest ways to get the sixties look was to wear short little coloured gloves with a hole cut out to reveal the back of the hand. The gloves were similar in appearance to golf gloves of today. With the gloves coloured plastic beaded raffia knit bags and plastic coloured bangles and chandelier earrings made of large sequin discs were all high fashion accessories that lasted about 5 years. All of these trend setting outfits and accessories could easily be obtained from Wallis, Richards, Etams, Biba or Chelsea Girl shops. Marks and Spencer did their bit and brought a shorter young junior range to teen girls in an effort to cut the cost. The range did not have the added on adult purchase tax that clothes had in pre VAT days.

You are reading an original 'The 1960s Mini Skirt' fashion article by Pauline Weston Thomas at © O utdoor Clothes Outdoor looks were achieved by using fabrics like wool, Terylene or cotton gabardine, corduroy, leather, suede or mock suede fabrics made up as car coats. Also cheaper alternatives such as padded nylon diamond quilted anoraks or cotton anoraks with toggles and Austrian peasant embroidered braids were quite common. T rousers ...(v4r) The mini dominated fashion and women sometimes needed a practical alternative smarter than jeans that could be worn day or evening. Quite formal trousers worn with a tunic, shirt, skinny rib or matching suit jacket were acceptable in certain work situations and liked as alternative evening wear when made from slinkier materials. Trousers were made from Courtelle jersey, cotton velvet, silky or bulked textured Crimplenes, lace with satin, and Pucci style printed Tricel. Hipster versions were popular and very flared versions developed by the late sixties, with every style ultimately translating into denim jeans.

Its worth noting that the hipsters of the 60s were not quite as low cut along the pelvic line as low rise jeans of 2005. So Many Influences on 1960's Styles Many things influenced fashion in the 1960s. Social mobility, daring fashion photography, easier travel abroad, the Vietnam war, new music of the Beatles and their much copied hairstyles, retro military and ethnic clothes, musicals, pop art and film all played a part. Right - Jackie Kennedy in the early 1960s wearing her trademark pill box hat and three quarter sleeves. Courrï¿½ges clean cut sharp 1960's design. I have already looked at Mary Quant and the role of pantyhose, but other major 60's influences included the trend setting globally photographed Jackie Kennedy. In addition Emilio Pucci's exotic psychedelic beautiful fabric prints, Courrï¿½ges's space age sculptured designs were as important as the fresh approach to fashion as that of Yves St. Laurent. The then youthful designer Yves St.Laurent made a clean forward looking fashion design image with his Mondrian inspired dress. Yves St.

Laurent's much copied Mondrian inspired shift dress. See and buy great 1960s photographs at Rock Around the Clock By the 1960s the Twist, the Shake and the Locomotion ousted the paired dancing couples of earlier generations. Only for the last few dances of the evening was the Smooch allowed for couples to romantically hold each other as they made their play to walk a partner home. Some stalwarts continued to rock and jive and to wear Teddy Boy gear. New Synthetic Yarns in the 1960s Many of the fashions of the 1960s existed because of the fabrics. They introduced new fabric properties and when synthetics were mixed with natural fibres there was improved performance in wear. Some had been invented years earlier in the 1930s and 1940s, but it was only in the 60s that huge production plants for synthetic fibres sprang up globally. In the UK in the 1960s Marks and Spencer was instrumental in bringing Elastomerics from America to their range of bras, corsetry and bathing wear. Other manufacturers and fashion retailers soon followed.

Meanwhile as man made fibres gained a hold, the Yorkshire woollen industry began to contract at an alarming rate. Job losses were inevitable and yet so often the newer man made yarn companies settled in areas where there was already a body of knowledge and a heritage of spinning, knitting or weaving. Du Pont and ICI were the giants of synthetic manufacture producing a wide range of fabrics under trade names relating to Polyamide , Polyesters, Polyurethanes, Polyolefins, and Polyacrylonitriles the polyvinyl derivative. All the fibre bases could be used as bulked or fine yarns dependant on fibre extrusion method and final finishing. The name often related to the country or plant where the fibre was produced for example Enkalon was Irish made nylon whereas Crylor, an acrylic yarn was made in France. Polyamide is nylon. It came under trade names such as Nylon 6, Celon, Enkalon, Perlon, Bri-Nylon, Cantrece and others. Polyester was known variously as Terylene, Dacron, Terlenka, Trevira, Kodel, Diolen, Tergal and Lavsan.

Polyurethane is the generic name of the elastomeric family of stretch fibres like Spandex, Lycra and Spanzelle. All these man made synthetic fibres began to be used in bras, underwear, swimwear and sportswear. Lycra eventually found its way into fabric mixes to aid crease recovery, wearing ease, fit and stretch. Polyvinyl derivatives produce polyacrylonitriles and this includes Orlon, Acrylic, Crylor, Courtelle and Creslan. Modified acrylics such as Dynel and Teklan were first used to make fake furs and fake hair for wigs in the sixties. You are reading an original 'The 1960s Mini Skirt' fashion article by Pauline Weston Thomas at © Read more about 1950s girdles, petticoats, bras and stockings in the 1950s section. Retro 1960s, 1970s, 1980s talk format and music at tonyjamesradio.com Footnote Biba History In 1964 Barbara Hulanicki founded Biba with her husband.

The team developed a small fashion shop in Abingdon Road, Kensington. The original Biba concept was the retail forerunner of low cost value fast fashion today and the type of pieces found in Primark or George at Asda. Biba sold low priced versions of high fashion items particularly the Quant mini skirt. Biba and the Biba style of make up application was also a huge sixties look. The Biba Art Deco store of the 70s was the place to be seen hanging out. After expanding too fast, too soon, there were financial problems at Biba and Dorothy Perkins took a majority stake in the business in 1969. After some corporate machinations Barbara Hulanicki left Biba and the trademark name in 1975. Later the Biba business was sold on again. Meanwhile in the following forty years Barbara Hulanicki has had a successful career in both interiors and fashion and continues to design from barbarahulanickidesign.com As for Biba - in the late C20th decades, other licensees sold products under the Biba name.

The label has a chequered past and after a much heralded fashion revival again in 2006, the trademark fell at the post again and the owner went into administration in the 2008 recession. In 2008 the UK department store House of Fraser acquired the Biba trademark name. In October 2010 after a very successful launch and sell out of some Biba pieces, House of Fraser declared Biba their top selling fashion line. You are reading an original 'The 1960s Mini Skirt' fashion article by Pauline Weston Thomas at © Read more about 1950s girdles, petticoats, bras and stockings in the 1950s section. See and buy great 1960s photographs at If you like this page then please share it with your friends For related fashion eras of the mid twentieth century click below:- --Link--

Question: Barbara Hulanicki founded which chain of fashion shops, famous in the 1960s?
Answer: BIBA