Steven Thomas: Big Biba, Branding, and Art

After a two-year break, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back with a conversation with artist Steven Thomas. After studying at the Chelsea School of Art in the mid-60s, Steve started his career in Swinging London, modelling, painting the façade of Chelsea boutique Dandie Fashions, and designing album artwork for bands, including the Rolling Stones. In the late 1960s, a girlfriend introduced him fashion illustrator-turned-fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon of Biba, which began a very fruitful and inspirational collaboration. He began working with Biba first on smaller projects, like a makeup poster, then a children’s department at the Kensington Church Street store and the Biba concession at Bergdorf Goodman, and finally, when Biba took over a whole department store on Kensington High Street, Steve and his partner Tim Whitmore were hired to create all of the designs for the entire Big Biba store, including interiors, signage, giant display items and graphic designs for the hundreds of own-brand product lines. After Big Biba closed in August 1975, Whitmore-Thomas began working extensively with Paul McCartney—designing his company’s headquarters along with numerous private homes—as well as launching a highly lucrative advertising and branding business for some of the largest brands in the world, like Guinness, Harrods, Lucky Strike, Pepsi, and Virgin. In the early 2000s, Whitmore-Thomas separated, with Steve returning to his first love: painting. Sign up for the Sighs and Whispers newsletter for more fashion and cultural history. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-42-steven-thomas Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Steven Thomas