The Biba Story: 1964 – 1975 at Dovecot from Friday

The new exhibition at Dovecot Studios will open to a waiting audience on Friday, with the curator talks already sold out.

But the exhibition runs until 27 June 2026, so there is plenty of time to enjoy the fashions and other exhibits which will take audiences back to the Swinging Sixties. The exhibition explores the history of the brand, 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.

Under its legendary founder Barbara Hulanicki, it was a phenomenon that has never been repeated. Lasting just over a decade, it remains influential to this day and interest in this cult fashion and lifestyle label has never waned.

Hulanicki said in 1970 that her business was about more than fashion. She said: “It isn’t just selling dresses, it’s a whole way of life.”

The fact that Biba’s history is quite short is one way of estimating its impact. Hulanicki set up a mail order business in 1963, and the business folded in 1975. By then the range had extended to cosmetics, to a food hall and clothing for men, women and children and the Rainbow Rooms restaurant. The ethos was of inclusivity and part of that was the affordability of the clothes which began the journey.

Co-curator Dennis Nothdruft, Head of Exhibitions at Fashion and Textile Museum, London, was kind enough to spend some time with us walking through the exhibition rooms, explaining how people were affected by the fashion and the lifestyle concept.

He said: “I think it was a real shift. Mary Quant definitely led the charge in the mid 50s, you know, there was that real movement away from what people’s mothers dressed like, and there was a point when teenagers in the 50s kind of looked like small versions of their mother. And then there was that change.”

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.

Heather Carroll, Dovecot’s Exhibitions Manager, said: The Biba Story: 1964–1975 is the only exhibition that looks at the history of Biba. Dovecot is excited to have the opportunity to display these fantastic archival pieces of clothing and original photographs.”