Byline: STEPHANIE YOUNG
IT WAS the boutique where the most beautiful women of their generation went to buy a lifestyle. In 1964, Polish immigrant Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon opened the first Biba clothing store on Abingdon Road in Kensington,West London.
Their gift at creating an all-encompassing look had fans such as Liz Taylor, Brigitte Bardot,Twiggy and Julie Christie flocking there to pick up everything from handbags to hairdryers.
To celebrate the spirit and style of Biba, FEMAIL asked the daughters of some of the store's most famous clients to model designs from the world's largest private collection of Biba memorabilia, which is about to be sold by fan Pari Beauchamp.
TARA NEWLEY, 36, is the daughter of Sixties screen siren Joan Collins. She is a TV writer and journalist and lives in London with her daughter, Miel, three. She says: MY FIRST Biba memory is of a trip to the enormous emporium on High Street, Kensington. I must have been nine and it was like stepping into the Disney World of fashion. I vividly recall the stunning art deco interior and lush fabrics.
On that first trip,my mother bought me a navy blue three-quarter-length coat with fitted sleeves and ruched shoulders. I wore it all the time and was still vainly attempting to squeeze into it at the age of 14.
My mother was a big Biba fan. She wore the tiny empire-line mini dresses made of about a foot of material, and adopted other key elements of the look such as the big rolex replica eyelashes and smoky eyes. I even remember her painting on freckles.
When I was little I used to love dressing up in Mum's cast-offs. I wish I could get my hands on some of those Biba designs now, but Mum continually updates her look so sadly she didn't keep any of those clothes.
The great thing about the Biba generation was the way the change in social outlook was reflected in fashion. In the Sixties you really were wearing a state of mind.
What I still love about Biba is that you could take on the whole led t5 tube look yet still stand out from the crowd. If you wore a whole outfit from one store today, you'd look like a fashion victim, but dressed top to toe in Biba you'd be making a fashion statement.The look was so selfassured and the lines were clean and beautiful.
I would wear Biba today without a doubt. If I ever spot that famous swirly label in a vintage shop, I'll pounce on it.
PARI BEAUCHAMP, 33, known to the vintage clothing industry as The Biba Girl because of her obsession with buying the label, is hoping to sell her entire collection to a British buyer. If you'd like to make a bid, visit her website
AMIE POWELL, 19, is the daughter of Sixties singer Sandie Shaw and film producer Nik Powell.
She is modelling during her gap year before reading Latin American Studies at Leeds University. She says: THE photographs I love most of my mother from the Sixties show her sporting the Biba look - A-line mini-dresses and floppy hats.
I'm lucky that, like Mum, I have a slender frame that really suits the Biba look. I'm 6ft so the mini dresses are very short on me, but I don't mind showing off my legs.
embroidered patches
What I love most are the bright colours and strong patterns.
I'm a High Street girl so if Biba was still around, I wouldn't dress top to toe in it. I'd
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