Biba

Over the last few weeks I keep hearing about Biba, today I read on Natasha Bailie's blog that House of Fraser have bought Biba and their archives, and when I was in The Whitworth Gallery last week, I was flicking through a book called The Biba Experience in their shop. Biba grew from a boutique fashion shop to a huge department store in London in the 60's and 70's.

The book explained how Biba was the first high street brand to really market and 'brand' themselves in the sense that we know it today. They had a 'logo shop' shown above, where the customer could get a Biba branded everything. I love the Biba aesthetic, the Art Deco design of the interiors and logo contrast dramatically with the iconic 60's and 70's fashion.

I'm not sure what I think about House of Fraser buying Biba... apparently there have been several unsuccessful re-launches of Biba in the past but nothing ever of this scale; Daisy Lowe will be the new face. I can see that it is a very smart move for HofF, with vintage and 60's fashion being so popular at the moment Biba is a goldmine... but it does make me feel a little uneasy, I think maybe we should just respect Biba for what it is and leave it well alone.