Relaunches
There have been several attempts to relaunch Biba since its closure, with the first taking place as recently afterwards as 1977. Another relaunch took place in the mid-1990s with Monica Zipper as head designer. Barbara Hulanicki has not been involved with any of these relaunches, and due to the use of Biba's logo and similar labels, these garments are easy to pass off as original vintage pieces.
The Biba label was relaunched again in May 2006 under designer Bella Freud. Again, Biba's founder, Barbara Hulanicki, was not contacted for the relaunch and said it was 'very, very painful', believing that the new Biba would 'betray its heritage.' Freuds first collection Spring/Summer 2007 was unveilled at London Fashion Week in September 2006, and was criticised for straying from the original concept of low-priced clothes for teenagers, needing 'more polish', as they 'had a Biba flavour but lacked the retro details that the original Biba designs had.' Freud's second attempt, Autumn/Winter 2007 was also panned as the kind of thing that's already over-available in fast-fashion chains.' Freud left the company after just 2 seasons in June 2007 to relaunch her own label. The Biba relaunch failed and the company went into administration for a second time in 2008.
House of Fraser bought the company in November 2009 for a second relaunch by an in-house design team, announcing Daisy Lowe as the new face of the label in an attempt to return to its high-street roots. Hector Castro and a five-strong team were selected to replace Freud with couture hats created by Prudence Millinery. This relaunch was highly successful, outselling House of Fraser's other in-house brands in just two weeks of its launch, boosting its year end sales. Meanwhile, Hulanicki instead designs capsule collections for rival high-street company Top Shop, and is once again unhappy with the relaunch, attacking the new Biba as 'too expensive' and 'for failing to reflect the original Biba style'. In retaliation, Hulanicki signed with Asda to produce three to four collections of clothing retailing between £11 and £18.
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