Barbara Hulanicki

From Chopin to Bob Marley.

Designer and creator of Biba, Barbara Hulanicki shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young.

Today her creativity spans fashion, illustration, interior design and architecture but it was the success of the label Biba that first made her name; launching a high street revolution with its opulent-looking but entirely affordable high fashion. According to Twiggy, "she changed fashion in England singlehandedly".

A newspaper advert for a £3 pink gingham dress in 1963 kicked things off and by the seventies her London department store was a throbbing temple to all things skinny-fitted in plum, mulberry, green, brown and black. Romantic, mysterious, nostalgic and very profitable. But when it all turned sour with her business partners, she and her husband Fitz walked away, leaving behind the hugely popular creation that had made her name.

The fantasy and perfection of her creations were a far cry from the harsh reality of her childhood; born in Poland just before the Second World War, the air of privilege that surrounded her family was traumatically punctured when her father, a diplomat, was assassinated.

She says "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."

DISC ONE: Baby Love - The Supremes
DISC TWO: Begin the Beguine - Artie Shaw
DISC THREE: Polonaise in A Flat Major - Frédéric Chopin
DISC FOUR: Such A Night - Johnnie Ray
DISC FIVE: La Vie en Rose - Marlene Dietrich
DISC SIX: Girl from Ipanema - Astrud Gilberto
DISC SEVEN: One Love / People Get Ready - Bob Marley & The Wailers
DISC EIGHT: Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed

BOOK CHOICE - Thesaurus - Roget
LUXURY CHOICE - Sketch book
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE - Girl from Ipanema - Astrud Gilberto

Producer: Cathy Drysdale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.