Monday October 6th 2025
Eleanor Powell in front of Biba, Church Street, in 1967
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios announced their new 2026 exhibition,‘The Biba Story: 1964-1975’, celebrating the story of fashion designer Barabara Hulancki and her affordable fashion retailer ‘Biba’, the world’s first lifestyle label.
Running from the 6th of February to the 27th of June 2026, the exhibition will replace this year’s ‘IKEA: Magical Patterns’, allowing visitors to step into the world of ‘Biba’ to discover how it blommosed from a mail-order company to become the world’s first in lifestyle fashion.
In the summer of 1963, fashion illustrator Barbara Hulanicki established a mail-order company selling affordable fashion appealing to a new generation of young women, which she named Biba.
The Biba Story exhibition focuses on the years 1964 to 1975, from the first Biba boutique to its expansion into the legendary London Big Biba department store.
“The Biba Story: 1964–1975 is the only exhibition that looks at the history of Biba”, says Heather Carroll, Dovecot’s Exhibitions Manager, “Dovecot is excited to have the opportunity to display these fantastic archival pieces of clothing, original photographs, and material all of which have been personally chosen by Barbara Hulanicki and to interpret them for new audiences”.
She added, “We’re delighted to be bringing The Biba Story, 1964–1975 to Dovecot early next year. This exhibition will whisk visitors back to the golden age of Biba, stirring fond memories for those who lived it, and giving new audiences the chance to experience Hulanicki’s iconic designs in person for the very first time.”
From the first simple shift dresses, to the glamorous devoré wraps, sequinned bodices, leopard print coats, trouser suits, floppy hats and feather boas that came to epitomise the Biba look. The exhibition will chart Biba’s meteoric rise to fame from a mail order catalogue in 1963, to a seven-storey department store on Kensington High Street and the world’s first lifestyle label, to its demise in 1975. Under its legendary founder Barbara Hulanicki, it was a phenomenon that has never been replicated. Lasting just over 10 years, it remains influential to this day and interest in this cult fashion and lifestyle label has never waned. Never before had a company brought affordable fashion to the youth market, whilst simultaneously instigating innovations in retailing which are still with us to this day.
When Biba started in the summer of 1963 as a mail-order company, it offered a revolutionary concept: affordable up to the minute clothes for a youth market. A year later the first Biba boutique opened in a small corner shop on Abingdon Road, Kensington and quickly became a centre for Swinging London with its clientele ranging from teenagers to celebrities including Twiggy, Mick Jagger, Pattie Boyd, The Beatles, Cher and Anita Pallenberg. From high-class debs and high-street girls, everyone wanted to be part of the Biba experience.
Biba’s philosophy was always about making fashion accessible. Early Biba clothes did not even have labels as these were seen as expendable when trying to keep costs down. Barbara Hulanicki aimed to cater for a broader customer base. She created the first full cosmetic range for black skin and actively supported the nascent queer community by advertising in the gay press, two decades before companies such as Dolce and Gabbana were to do the same and be heralded as radical and edgy.
Biba’s communal changing rooms, music, blacked out windows, dim lighting, dark woodwork, painted screens, Art Nouveau mirrors, bent wood hat stand, plants and second-hand furniture were revolutionary. By September of 1973 Biba had opened as a seven-storey department store on London’s Kensington High Street, selling own-brand products packaged in the distinctive Biba style, with floors dedicated to home furnishings, make-up and accessories, clothing for women, men and children and even a food hall. Everything was available at Big Biba – from baked beans to wallpaper. Customers could also have tea with real flamingos on the building’s roof garden or spend the evening watching bands such as the New York Dolls, in the 500-seater Rainbow Rooms restaurant.
Although the shops were in London, Biba spread the word to the rest of the UK through another innovation, the Biba catalogues. Realising Biba clothes were rarely featured in Vogue, as they were considered too cheap, Hulanicki decided to create her own editorial in her highly stylised catalogues. These allowed Hulanicki to create a collection showing the complete Biba look: how to wear the clothes and how to accessorise them.
Alongside the exhibition, Dovecot is running the Bring Oot Your Biba campaign to encourage local people to share photos and stories of their Biba experiences and garments to create an online archive and celebrate the legacy of this iconic brand. We want to hear from people whon came of age with Biba, visited the store, sported the Biba-style at work and who might even have bought the Biba baked beans. Details of how you can take part can be found on the website: https://dovecotstudios.com/news/bring-oot-your-biba
This exhibition is organised by the Fashion and Textile Museum and is curated by Martin Pel in collaboration with Barbara Hulanicki. Now aged 88, the Biba founder has been involved in selecting every object for display.
With tickets to the highly anticipated exhibition now on sale, more click here for more information.
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