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Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki comes to Bath in partnership with local designer Liz Cox

By Bath Chronicle  |  Posted: September 22, 2014

  • Barbara Hulancki (left) with Bath handbag designer Liz Cox . Photography by Paul Gillis

  • One of the handbag designs by Barbara Hulanicki and Bath's Liz Cox

  • Barbara Hulanicki - founder of Biba

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From an early age, clothes were more than a mere necessity for Barbara Hulanicki – the woman who launched the legendary fashion brand Biba 50 years ago.

Fashion became something she immersed herself in to escape from the loss of her father, a diplomat, who was executed in 1948, a casualty of the Cold War.

The artist began to express herself, inspired by cinema of the time with its glamourous stars like Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn and began her career in fashion as a freelance fashion illustrator, working for various magazines, including Vogue, Tatler and Women's Wear Daily. By 1963 she had set up mail-order company Biba.

In 1964, after struggling to fill the huge number of orders she was getting, she and her husband opened the doors to the first Biba shop. It marked the dawn of the coolest, grooviest, sexiest clothes Britain had ever seen. This was affordable fashion aimed exclusively at the youth market and we had never seen anything like it.

The shop soon became known 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, including Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull.

In the shop, affordable mini-skirts, floppy felt hats, feather boas, velvet trouser suits and unisex t-shirts dyed in rich, muted colours were bought by a young clientele, and Anna Wintour - the editor-in-chief of American Vogue - started in fashion as a Biba employee.

With its tell-tale prints, stripes and checks, Biba brought designer 70s chic to every girl’s wardrobe. Drabness is something Barbara Hulanicki could never be accused of.

I meet up with her at Bath’s Fashion Museum, and at 77-years-old she is amazingly energetic with a sharp, feminist wit, but she is also very approachable, friendly and extremely practical with a down to earth, no-nonsense approach to women’s fashion. She has used this approach while collaborating with Bath designer Liz Cox to produce their exclusive range of handbags.

Marrying their joint love of great design and the ‘Made in England’ stamp of authority, Barbara and Liz believe they have created the must-have accessory for working women.

“Our bags are not for women who lunch,” says Barbara. “Nor are they to be swung Margaret Thatcher-style over your forearm - never, ever do that with a handbag.”

For Barbara, a handbag is not a fashion statement or a one-off expensive accessory to be shown off in fashionable restaurants or bars.

“These are bags for working women,” she says. “Some of them are also suitable for men; they are discreet and understated for today’s workers.

“I am a worker myself; I wanted to design something useful at affordable prices, something soft and easy to use, not too formal. A handbag should be practical and functional, as well as stylish.

“I am all for working women, I have always worked; I don’t understand people who don’t work. People dress less formally nowadays, they are more sporty, less tailored and the bags reflect that, they fit in at meetings or in the evening, they are just so user-friendly.”

Dressed in her signature all black with dark sunglasses, the woman who mixed with Mick Jagger and Twiggy in the glaring 60s and 70s seems genuinely excited about designing handbags for a local Bath company.

“I absolutely love Bath,” she says. “It is one of those very rare places they haven’t managed to do anything terrible to. I have been here many times; I just love the colour of the streets and the magnificent scale of the buildings.”

The collaboration between Barabara and Liz happened when Barbara, who lives some of the time in Miami and some of the time in London, visited Liz’s leather factory near Radstock.

“Oh my God it is such an amazing place,” says Barbara. “I spent the whole day there, they couldn’t get me to leave, all that lovely leather and colours, and the extraordinary people who work there.”

Liz has been making handbags in the Bath area since 1995, and sells them from her shop in Margaret’s Buildings.

At the Bath in Fashion event in April she approached Barbara, who was taking part, and since then the pair have been working in partnership to create and develop what they think are the perfect handbags for working women – and men.

“The bigger bags can carry so much stuff, everything you would need in a working day,” says Barbara. “They look beautiful, but I wanted something that was not a fashion statement, they need to be practical as well as beautiful. They are affordable luxury.”

Included in the range is a satchel, which is big enough to carry a laptop, and a full leather rucksack.

“They are not tailored, they are lovely and soft and squidgy, very touchy -feely,” she adds. “There are small bags too, and a cute iPhone necklace which allows you to carry your phone around your neck on a leather strap. I don’t know how people don’t lose their phones all the time. At least if it is around your neck you know where it is.”

Liz Cox is delighted with the partnership. She says: “We work so well together, it is work in progress, we are constantly changing our designs and Barbara seems to know exactly what women want. As a company we are delighted to be able to team up with an icon like Barbara who loves the project so much.”

Barbara has just given a talk at The Assembly Rooms, Bath, which almost 200 enthralled women attended - some of them with original Biba dresses in tow - to hear about the heady days of Biba. If it’s one thing the women of Bath love, it’s a fashion legend.

The Hulanicki designed handbags are available at the Liz Cox shop in Margaret’s Buildings, or online at www.lizcox.com/bath-shop

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