Brighton has a long history of producing creative talent, and one of its most famous exports is now back in the city in the form of a photography exhibition. The Biba Look: Photography & Fashion opened on 3 October at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, in the Royal Pavilion Gardens, and it runs right through to 21 March 2027, so there is plenty of time to catch it over the autumn and winter.
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The show is built around the work of Barbara Hulanicki, the Polish-born designer who founded Biba and became one of the defining names of Swinging London. For Brighton, the connection is personal: Hulanicki worked as a fashion illustrator after studying at Brighton Art College in the late 1950s, before going on to change the face of British fashion. The exhibition is presented by the Biba Foundation and curated by Dr Sarah Mower, a leading fashion historian, author and MBE recipient.
What you actually get to see is the real draw. The exhibition pulls never-before-seen photographs from Hulanicki's own archive, and pairs them with original images from the six Biba photographic catalogues produced in the 1960s. Those catalogues were put together over an eighteen-month period and gathered work from a genuinely impressive roster of photographers: Hans Feurer, Sarah Moon, Helmut Newton, Harri Peccinotti and Donald Silverstein. To give the images some physical weight, the show also loans one iconic garment from each of the six catalogues, so you can see the actual clothes alongside the photographs. Among them are a red flanesta nightshirt, a tailored trouser suit, a spider-lace peplum suit and a navy-blue and white polka-dot cotton drill jacket and skirt.
It is worth a bit of background to understand why Biba mattered. Hulanicki started the business with her husband, the advertising executive Stephen Fitz-Simon, as a mail-order boutique on Abingdon Road in 1963, before opening the first physical store at 87 Abingdon Road, Kensington, in August 1964. The brand became famous for its long and skinny silhouette, which drew on Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Pre-Raphaelite influences, and it quickly became a touchstone of the 1960s London scene. The Biba Foundation, a registered charity, now works to preserve and promote that legacy, and this exhibition is part of that effort.
On the practical side, it is easy to fit into a day out. Entry is free with admission to the Brighton Museum, which you can pay for on the door or book online, and members get in free. The exhibition is timed to land ahead of Hulanicki's 90th birthday in December, so it makes for a fitting tribute to a designer who started out in the very city where the show is now on display. Whether you are into fashion history or just want to see some great 1960s photography, it is a strong addition to the city's cultural calendar this season.
Published Date
5 October 2026
