This Polish born, British raised fashion icon described herself as “a natural feminist” in a 2014 interview with The Observer. As the co-founder of BIBA with her late husband, Stephen Fitz-Simon (AKA “Fitz”), Barbara Hulanicki revolutionised design and her followers included Brigitte Bardot, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Marianne Faithful. She only closed her store once – for Princess Anne – and has designed hotels for Ronnie Wood and Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Hulanicki’s diplomat father was murdered by a Zionist extremist group in 1940 and more recently she stated: “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”.
Two stories to keep beside you
Rosemary Conley
“Slimming guru” Rosemary Conley’s luck changed in 2014 when her empire went into administration. Though her low-fat “Hip & Thigh Diet” regime was all the rage in the 1990s, newer “blockbuster” alternatives stole her mantle and her business, Quorn House Publishing – worth an estimated £13 million in 2006 – went down with losses of […]
Francesca Bortolotto Possati
The head of the four property Bauers Hotel Group is the “best connected woman” in Venice.
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