Biba - The Look and Feel

The Look and Feel

‘The Biba Look’ or 'Dudu Look' was "fresh little foals with long legs, bright faces and round dolly eyes." Hulanicki describes her customers as "postwar babies who had been deprived of nourishing protein in childhood and grew up into beautiful skinny people: a designer's dream. It didn’t take much for them to look outstanding." These women were mostly teenagers or twenty year olds, who wanted to have clothes that looked good on them. All the Biba girls remember how women over thirty years old were considered old in the Biba store, and probably felt isolated as these girls felt in other stores. The employees were from the same demographic; among them at one point was a young Anna Wintour, later editor of Vogue.

The Biba look consisted of what Hulanicki called "Auntie Colours" - blackish mulberries, blueberries, rusts and plums. Hulanicki described them as "look like a funeral."

Biba smocks were uncomfortable and itchy, and stopped women’s arms from bending - something that did not stop customers from buying the clothes. They became the uniform of the era, with the added bonus of that whatever you bought, you could always get accessories to match. Miniskirts were causing a scene of their own, every week they got shorter. Although Mary Quant was the first British designer to show the mini skirt, Biba was responsible for putting it on the high street and as miniskirts were in fashion, everything needed to be associated with them.