Barbara Hulanicki

Barbara Hulanicki (b. 1936) is a Polish - English fashion designer, born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and best known as the founder of clothes store Biba.

Early life Hulanicki was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents. Her father, Witold Hulanicki, was assassinated by the nationalist organisation Lehi in Jerusalem in 1948, and the family moved to Brighton, England.

Career While studying from 1954 to 1956 at the Brighton School of Art, Hulanicki won an Evening Standard competition in 1955 for beachwear. She began her career in fashion as a freelance fashion illustrator for various magazines, including Vogue, Tatler and Women's Wear Daily.

Hulanicki sold her first designs through a small mail-order business

After the shop's 1975 closure, Hulanicki moved to Brazil, where she opened several other stores. style for Graham & Brown.

British retailer Topshop opened a New York City store in April 2009, and later that month launched a collection featuring Hulanicki's designs. She produced a collection for Topshop featuring billowing chiffon dresses and blouses reminiscent of her original Biba style, along with several jersey pieces printed with her original illustrations, bikinis and a cropped suede jacket. In the same month, a handbag in her Art Deco

In December 2013, she was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, where her top choice was "The Girl from Ipanema" by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, with vocal by Astrud Gilberto. In September 2015, Hulanicki was interviewed on the BBC TV's HARDtalk. She has said: "Now whenever I finish something I take some photographs and say 'goodbye'. When you lose everything, you realise that the only thing you have is what's in your head."

In 2009, the British department store group House of Fraser bought the rights to the Biba label. In 2014, Hulanicki agreed to serve as a consultant for Biba, the first time since 1975 that she had been involved with the brand she created.

In 2021, Hulanicki started a new venture with virtual reality company, BrandLab360, to create a new label titled 'Hula'. The new brand will be sold exclusively to trade buyers on BrandLab 360's digital showroom and was created after Hulanicki met with Dan OConnell and Jennifer Drury, the platform's founders, in Miami, where she is now based.

Awards Hulanicki received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2010.

Hulanicki was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to the fashion industry.