{"id":56087,"date":"2022-05-09T17:20:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T17:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=56087"},"modified":"2022-05-09T17:20:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T17:20:16","slug":"biba-barbara-hulanicki-miami-fashion-illustrations","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/biba-barbara-hulanicki-miami-fashion-illustrations\/","title":{"rendered":"Groovy, Baby: Biba Founder Barbara Hulanicki’s Creative Prowess Knows No End"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Polish born fashion designer and founder of the clothes store Biba, Barbara Hulanicki pictured in her studio in London on 16th August 1983. (Photo by United News\/Popperfoto via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After living many fashionable lives, Barbara Hulanicki is now returning to her roots. The multi-hyphenate creative is best known for launching the iconic London boutique Biba, which left an indelible mark on fashion culture in the swinging 1960s and \u201870s.<\/p>\n

However, she is a fashion illustrator by trade \u2014 a skill she is now putting on (literal) display in the salon exhibit \u201cApr\u00e8s Biba,\u201d which is making the rounds of Miami\u2019s most exclusive hotels. A Miami resident since the \u201880s, Hulanicki is excited to show traditional, hand-sketched illustrations that embrace \u201cgoing back to the drawing\u201d in her adopted hometown, she told GRAZIA Gazette: F1 Miami<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dismissing digital illustrations as \u201ctoo plastic,\u201d Hulanicki cites the importance of learning the classic and authentic techniques of old. And if the critical response to her recent work is any indication, such time-honored techniques are very much of the moment: Hulanicki illustrated a popular campaign for Bottega Veneta<\/a> and just wrapped her \u201cApr\u00e8s BIBA\u201d exhibition at the Sagamore.<\/p>\n

The artist said, \u201cIt\u2019s so strange. I\u2019ve found that the young people love real illustrations now.\u201d The next stop for \u201cApr\u00e8s BIBA?” South Beach\u2019s Betsy Hotel this May.<\/p>\n

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Fashion Illustration Courtesy of Barbara Hulanicki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Born in Poland, the Biba founder credits her mother with having inspired her creative outlook on life. \u201cI had a very stylish mother. She was wonderful and always had incredible clothes. She knew how to sew. We were always making clothes because you couldn\u2019t buy anything. There were no shops,\u201d Hulanicki said.<\/p>\n

After moving to the UK and learning English, Hulanicki attended the Brighton School of Art (now the University of Brighton School of Art and Media). \u201cI just loved drawing all the time,\u201d Hulanicki explained. After graduating, she \u201cquickly got a job at a studio illustrating, because illustrating was big! It\u2019s almost like now \u2014 it\u2019s coming back!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked my way up in the studio to working with all the newspapers and magazines,\u201d she continued. \u201cThey would send you to Paris to see the [runway] shows and illustrate the clothes.\u201d Due to the rarity of mainstream photography, illustration was the preeminent conduit for publishing the styles of the season.<\/p>\n

Feeling out of place among the stuffy high-fashion crowd, Hulanicki also found the subdued monotony of the big fashion houses, well, quite boring. It all changed, though, when Audrey Hepburn first came onto the scene. An aspirational icon for a younger generation, Hepburn was \u201cthe first young person that was wearing fabulous clothes,\u201d Hulanicki said. \u201cYou wanted everything she had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, fate intervened. Hulanicki serendipitously ran into her idol in a tiny elevator at Givenchy, and the young illustrator took note of the actress\u2019 spindly proportions; specifically, her elongated neck, waist, and unexpectedly large feet. \u201cI was so excited!\u201d Hulanicki laughed. \u201cI thought, Wow! She\u2019s normal!\u201d<\/p>\n

Accessible sartorial choices were extremely limited in the UK at the time, so Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon (whom Hulanicki lovingly refers to as \u201cFitz\u201d) saw a gaping hole in the industry. \u201cThis huge, bulging market wanted stuff. They were all coming in from all the provinces to live in London because of the music, of course,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to all these fashion shows and there were no clothes to wear! That\u2019s why, when I met my husband Fitz, he said I should really go back to designing, and that we should do something together. So, we did. And we hit the jackpot.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1964, the couple launched Biba in Kensington. A psychedelic labyrinth, filled to the brim with opulent interiors and funky fashions, it served as the hottest hub for would-be rock stars and waif-like models, reigning as the seat of fashion royalty from the mod movement throughout the \u201860s youthquake. \u201cOne day, the doors opened and suddenly it filled up with people wanting to buy things,\u201d Hulanicki recalled of the whirlwind experience. \u201cIt was like a fairytale. We just grew every two years. We had to go bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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November 1980: Fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki at the opening of her new ‘Biba’ shop in Holland Park, London. (Photo by Clarke\/Evening Standard\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Biba wasn\u2019t just a hot spot for the everyday clubgoer. Stars like Twiggy, The Beatles, and Mick Jagger often frequented the groovy haven as well, but the stylish shop girls weren\u2019t exactly impressed. \u201cIt was terribly funny because there was always somebody very important, lots of big names coming in,\u201d recalled Hulanicki.<\/p>\n

When Barbara would pop into the shop and ask the young ladies behind the counter if anything exciting had happened or if anyone of note came in, \u201cThey were just so blas\u00e9,\u201d she remembered with a laugh. \u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018<\/em>Oh, I don\u2019t know. Yoko Ono\u2019s been in. We don\u2019t know who she is. Oh, yeah, Mick Jagger, but he\u2019s always in here.\u2019 I mean, they were terrible! Fitz and I were like, \u2018Come on! Tell us more, tell us more!\u2019\u201d They were hilarious. There were fantastic girls in the shop. They were incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reminiscing over the hard work and camaraderie of the well-oiled machine that was Biba, Hulanicki revealed that she still keeps in touch with a lot of her shop girls: \u201cIt was a completely woman business, except for Fitz. Women are amazing when they\u2019re together.\u201d<\/p>\n

A whole new era began when Hulanicki moved to Miami in the \u201880s. It all started when she was enlisted to help design a nightclub for Rolling Stones band member Ronnie Wood: \u201cHe said it would take six months. HA! Three years later, Fitz and I were still here.\u201d Making a home out of Miami, Hulanicki was newly inspired and influenced by the Art Deco aesthetic.<\/p>\n

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Fashion Illustration Courtesy of Barbara Hulanicki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the project with Ronnie Wood wrapped, Island Records founder and GoldenEye hotel owner Chris Blackwell called upon Hulanicki to help with a series of hotel projects. Blackwell \u2013 one of the first to record the Jamaican popular music eventually known as ska \u2013 \u201cwanted everything to look like Jamaica,\u201d Hulanicki recalled. Her unabashed use of vibrant colors eventually got Hulanicki into some hot water with Miami Beach\u2019s preservation board, though, which is why her latest honor took her by surprise.<\/p>\n

In March, Hulanicki was presented with a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Miami Beach, paying homage to her contributions towards the revitalization of the Miami Beach Art Deco District. \u201cI was shocked! I was very thrilled to get that,\u201d Hulanicki said.<\/p>\n

Now, running her label Hula in partnership with BrandLab 360, Hulanicki noted the unexpected similarities that exist between running a brand on a digital platform and a mail-order brick-and-mortar. \u201cIt works exactly the same way if one had a shop, like Biba,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Integral in establishing the emphasis on individuality throughout the \u201860s and \u201870s, Biba\u2019s enduring relevance continues to keep Hulanicki\u2019s name synonymous with genuine creative expression. At age 85, the eternal pioneer and arbiter of taste shows no signs of slowing down. Miami had better watch out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31863,"featured_media":56090,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[2563,17,16],"yoast_head":"\nBiba Founder Barbara Hulanicki's Creative Prowess Knows No End<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Running her label Hula, showcasing her fashion illustrations, and racking up new honors, Barbara Hulanicki remains a creative renegade decades after opening the store, Biba\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/biba-barbara-hulanicki-miami-fashion-illustrations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Groovy, Baby: Biba Founder Barbara Hulanicki's Creative Prowess Knows No End\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Running her label 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