Travis Elborough

‘As one of the biggest-selling acts of the 1970s, The Carpenters – the sibling duo of Richard and Karen – created lush soundscapes of melodic pop, producing global hits like ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’, ‘Top of the World’ and ‘Close to You’. Though rightly recognised as one of the greatest singers in popular music,  Karen’s struggles with anorexia and her tragic early death at the age of just thirty-two in 1983 have often overshadowed her achievements.

Forty years after her death, Lucy O’Brien, has written Lead Sister, a radical new biography of Karen Carpenter. In conversation with the author Travis Elborough, she’ll discuss the life and legacy of this troubled but extraordinarily talented artist, and a woman whose battles with mental health and eating disorders have astonishing resonance today.’

Link for tickets here:

https://centuryclub.co.uk/tickets/

Join one of the original Biba girls and biographer of the brand, Delisia Howard, and the artist Chris Price as they take you on a trip through the history of the wildest shop in swinging London at this in-conversation with the author Travis Elborough.

Founded as a mail order business by Barbara Hulanicki in 1964, Biba, whose first boutique was established soon after in a former chemist’s on Abingdon Road in Kensington, became one of Swinging London’s most sought after, yet affordable, fashion brands. Their customers ranged from the hipper to hippie girls next door to the cream of the sixties pop mod aristocracy from Twiggy and Cilla Black to Cathy McGowan, the presenter of Ready Steady Go!. Biba rode into the glam rock 1970s in high style, opening their grandest and greatest boutique Big Biba in the old Derry and Toms department store on Kensington High Street in 1973. Its Rainbow Room hosted a legendary party for the New York Dolls that November and the likes of Billy Haley, the Pointer Sisters and Ian Dury performed there in cabaret. Yet two years later, the suits had stolen the show and the shop was shut, the building sold and Biba was gone.

The evening will reveal the story of the rapid rise and catastrophic collapse of the iconic London fashion brand. For fashions aficionados, it will also include a showcase of some vintage pieces from Biba’s back catalogues.

Link here for tickets

https://centuryclub.co.uk/members-events/from-a-to-biba-an-evening-celebrating-the-iconic-fashion-brand/