“Biba’s fame grew and grew on an international basis, and brought famous stars of the sixties into the shop. Twiggy, a close friend of Barbara and Fitz, was often there. During my time Marianne Faithful, Cilla Black, Mia Farrow and Yoko Ono all came in. On one occasion, word went round that Brigitte Bardot was in the shop, and I couldn’t resist going in to see my favourite star.”
After a sickly start to his life, Tony Porter certainly made up for it – he started his career selling paint for ICI, who later sent him to Nigeria. There he married Beatrice and they had three children. Brought home 8 years later following the outbreak of the Biafran war, he left ICI and immersed himself in the swinging 60s, painting his convertible Citroen brown and selling high fashion for the Kensington Biba store, founded by his sister-in-law Barbara Hulanicki.
Subsequently, Tony left Biba to start his own fashion PR business in the West End of London, and was also part of the group that set up the British (later London) Fashion Week. With the help of Beatrice, their PR Company prospered, enabling them to buy a yacht, and in due course even tiny Burgh Island, lying off the South coast of Devon.
Having restored its Art Deco hotel, they sold the island and Tony is concentrating on his new career as a writer. Punctuated by his laugh-a-minute style, Whatever Next? is a unique biography of a life spent at the forefront of British fashion. This book will be enjoyed by those interested in the fashion industry, but more broadly by readers looking for an entertaining narrative of an unbelievable life.