December 8, 2009
Beyond BIBA: A Portrait of Barbara Hulanicki is exactly that, a portrayal of the woman behind BIBA, a woman whose style and designs revolutionised UK fashion at a time when England was considered “the least fashionable country in Europe”.
Consisting of both personal interviews and nostalgically grainy archive footage of the 60s and 70s from the original BIBA stores in Kensington, Beyond BIBA has been made with both sensitivity for a time that is gone, and the kind of humour that only hindsight can provide. Split into chapters with the use of titles that are reminiscent of those used in silent films, Beyond BIBA proves to be enthralling and accessible to all.
Directed by Louis Price, the documentary catalogues the designer’s life in her own words; from the lessons learnt during a childhood in Jerusalem to the landing of a job as a fashion illustrator in London which before long snowballed into the eventual birth of BIBA. However, Price does not stop there; instead of making a film solely about an era of fashion, he goes beyond what Hulanicki describes as BIBA’s “corporate demise” and also details her later work as an interior designer in Miami, Florida. All the while, the audience feels as though they are getting to know the woman behind the now trademark dark glasses.
At one point in the documentary, well-known British model Twiggy tells the production crew with a smile that before BIBA, there were two choices of clothing in 60s England; “there were children’s clothes, or you could dress like Mum and Dad”. This fondness and gratitude for Hulanicki’s creations is clearly still alive and well and is without a doubt reflected throughout Beyond BIBA.
The documentary offers a very intimate meeting with someone who nowadays often lacks the recognition she deserves. It is impossible to walk away from this film without being inspired by the self-admitted dreamer that is Barbara Hulanicki.
Consisting of both personal interviews and nostalgically grainy archive footage of the 60s and 70s from the original BIBA stores in Kensington, Beyond BIBA has been made with both sensitivity for a time that is gone, and the kind of humour that only hindsight can provide. Split into chapters with the use of titles that are reminiscent of those used in silent films, Beyond BIBA proves to be enthralling and accessible to all.
Directed by Louis Price, the documentary catalogues the designer’s life in her own words; from the lessons learnt during a childhood in Jerusalem to the landing of a job as a fashion illustrator in London which before long snowballed into the eventual birth of BIBA. However, Price does not stop there; instead of making a film solely about an era of fashion, he goes beyond what Hulanicki describes as BIBA’s “corporate demise” and also details her later work as an interior designer in Miami, Florida. All the while, the audience feels as though they are getting to know the woman behind the now trademark dark glasses.
At one point in the documentary, well-known British model Twiggy tells the production crew with a smile that before BIBA, there were two choices of clothing in 60s England; “there were children’s clothes, or you could dress like Mum and Dad”. This fondness and gratitude for Hulanicki’s creations is clearly still alive and well and is without a doubt reflected throughout Beyond BIBA.
The documentary offers a very intimate meeting with someone who nowadays often lacks the recognition she deserves. It is impossible to walk away from this film without being inspired by the self-admitted dreamer that is Barbara Hulanicki.