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Biba returns

Published 2 September 2009
Event 29 October 2009

Tickets have sold out to see Barbara Hulanicki, founder of the iconic clothes store Biba. She is returning to the University of Brighton, where she learned her craft, for a screening of a new documentary about her life.

Barbara, 72, studied illustration at what was Brighton College of Art, and is now part of the university, in the early 1950s.

The documentary entitled 'Beyond Biba' will be shown at the university's Sallis Benney Theatre at the Grand Parade site at 6pm on October 29 and will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Barbara herself. They will be fielded by Molly Parkin, herself a former student at the Brighton College of Art and who worked with Barbara at Biba before opening her own boutique.

Beyond Biba: A Portrait of Barbara Hulanicki

The film, produced by November Films, tells the story of the Warsaw-born fashion designer, including details on her early life, the time she enjoyed in Brighton and also how she started Biba with her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon, the shop that changed Britain's fashion in the 1960s and 1970s.

A trailer of the film can be seen below and copies of the DVD, available from the 7th December, can be ordered here.

In the nineties, she arrived in Miami Beach where she designed interiors for Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones and Chris Blackwell's Boutique Hotel Group. She is credited with the resurrection of Miami Beach's crumbling Art Deco district.

As well as her interior design work, she has also delved back into the fashion world, designing for Coccinelle, Habitat, Graham and Brown and recently a clothing range for Topshop

Ticket holders are invited to submit questions for the post-screening Q&A session by emailing events@brighton.ac.uk.

Beyond Biba Special Edition DVD

Now available for pre-order from www.beyondbibamovie.com/dvd.html

Shipping on 14th December; just £28 including p&p (UK shipping only. For overseas, please use the contact link on the beyondbiba website)

Limited to 1000, with the first 500 including a certificate of authenticity signed by Barbara Hulanicki. Each DVD will also contain a booklet about the film and five postcards.

DVD Extras:

Commentary with Director Louis Price and Producers Tom Walters and James Collie.
Interview with Director Louis Price
Stills Gallery
Barbara Hulanicki "On Tour" documentary.
The DVD is all-region (0) PAL. There will be an all-region (0) NTSC released soon.

Reviews:

“Beyond Biba will leave you bubbly about Biba” – LA Times

“A fascinating portrait of the life of 1960s fashion legend Barbara Hulanicki” - The Guardian