Biba was London's iconic 1970s fashion destination — closed and failed twice more

Biba was founded in August 1964 by Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon. It began as a mail-order business after a pink gingham dress promoted in the Daily Mirror generated 17,000 orders. The first shop opened at 87 Abingdon Road in Kensington, and within a decade Biba became the epicentre of Swinging London fashion — a destination where teenagers, rock stars, and aristocrats shopped side by side.

By 1973 Biba had moved into the seven-storey Derry & Toms department store on Kensington High Street — 'Big Biba' — drawing up to a million customers a week. It sold affordable fashion, cosmetics, and home goods across themed floors, with a restaurant and a food hall. But the expansion was funded by selling a 75% stake to Dorothy Perkins, and then the British Land Company acquired Dorothy Perkins, gaining a 70% controlling interest.

Hulanicki clashed with the board over creative control. She resigned, and in 1975 British Land closed the business — the building was worth more than the struggling retailer. Biba was relaunched three times after the original closed: first in 1977 (brief revival of the cosmetics line), then in the mid-1990s (fashion line that failed quickly), and finally in 2006 under designer Bella Freud. The 2006 relaunch entered administration in 2008. In 2009, House of Fraser bought the brand and operates it as an in-house label.