Barbara Hulanicki Handbag
The great brand handbag designer
Barbara Hulanicki
KOMELY ENTERPRISES LTD
A woman and child in identical maxi, panne velvet dresses are the essence of the Biba look.
Her experience on the magazine led Spade to spot a niche in the market for elegant handbags in bright color that were not over-designed; bags that represented the personality of the owner rather than the designer.
Barbara Hulanicki, a fashion illustrator, had dreamed of bringing decadence to the masses. She began with a “postal boutique” in 1963, opening her first shop, named after her sister, Biba, a year later.
She invented a tote for her own use when on holiday in Provincetown in 1993 and together with her husband, Andy Spade, subsequently developed a line of six shoppers. Her “IT” bag went on to win an accessories award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in 1996.
The company now also produces shoes, stationary and home furnishings.
Biba was, in the words of Ossie Clarke, “Disposable glamour shrouded n purply, mulberry shades.” Hulanicki’s style lived somewhere between Art Deco and Art Nouveau: slim, often cut from satin and velvet and highlighted with lean lurex knitwear. In 1973
It was a treasury of exotic accessories and fabrics and despite its cheapness, which made it accessible to students and teenagers, evening ladies handbag stars including Twiggy and Julie Christie.
Barbara start the mass range of handbag and evening handbag in 1975,
Also export to Asia since 1976s.
Biba moved into a department store building. This “nickelodeon land of Art Deco with potted palms and mirrored hall” only lasted until 1975, but Hulanicki’s ideal it still admired.