Steve Thomas (artist)
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Steven Thomas (born Harry Steven Thomas, 30 October 1944) is an English designer and visual artist best known for his interiors and graphic design work for the
Biba Biba was a London fashion store of the 1960s and 1970s. Biba was started and run by the Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon. After the original company closed in 1975, Biba was relaunched several times, independentl ...
fashion brand. With design partner Tim Whitmore, Thomas led the small team which generated numerous designs and branding for the company's ambitious seven-storey department store known as "Big Biba" in London's Kensington High Street in the early to mid-1970s. In the 1960s, Thomas represented groups including
Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...
's group The Herd and went on to create designs for such music business clients as the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
and
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
as well as brands such as
Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...
,
Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...
,
Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...
and
British American Racing British American Racing (BAR) was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell Racing, Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year. Subsequently, they formed a partnership wit ...
. With Alwyn W. Turner, Thomas is the author of Welcome To Big Biba. In 2008, Thomas was the subject of the exhibition Big Biba And Other Stories at London gallery Chelsea Space.


Early life and education

Thomas was born in Chipping Norton. He attended
Latymer Upper School Latymer Upper School is a public school in Hammersmith, London, England, on King Street. It derives from a charity school, and is part of the same 1624 Latymer Foundation, from a bequest by the English legal official Edward Latymer. There ...
in
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
, west London, and studied painting at
Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, produ ...
, supplementing his grant with work as a male model and waiter at restaurants on the adjacent King's Road. He also helped realise the
psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...
design by art collective Binder Edwards & Vaughn for the façade of Chelsea boutique
Dandie Fashions Dandie Fashions or sometimes referred to as Dandy Fashions was a London fashion boutique founded in 1966. The boutique was established following a chance encounter at the Speakeasy Club between Freddie Hornik and Alan Holston. They later teamed ...
. Among Thomas's art school teachers were the prominent British artists
Patrick Caulfield Patrick Joseph Caulfield, (29 January 1936 – 29 September 2005), was an English painter and printmaker known for his bold canvases, which often incorporated elements of photorealism within a pared-down scene. Examples of his work are ''Po ...
, Allen Jones, and
John Hoyland John Hoyland RA (12 October 1934 – 31 July 2011) was a London-based British artist. He was one of the country's leading abstract painters. Early life John Hoyland was born on 12 October 1934, in Sheffield, Yorkshire, to a working-class fami ...
, from whom he developed a "love of Pop Art and my obsession with the complexities of colour".


Design work for music

On graduation, Thomas formed a design practice with fellow student Whitmore. Among Whitmore-Thomas Design's early commissions was the back cover of the Rolling Stones' 1970 live album
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! ''Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!: The Rolling Stones in Concert'' is the second live album by the Rolling Stones, released on 4 September 1970 on Decca Records in the UK and on London Records in the United States. It was recorded in New York City and Balt ...
, which was completed within 48 hours to meet the record company Decca's deadline for the record release. Thomas later related that this was given Mick Jagger's seal of approval with the utterance "I dig your work, man." Thomas also created a record sleeve for Three Week Hero, an LP by
PJ Proby P. J. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Proby recorded the singles " Hold Me", "Somewhere", and "Maria". In 2008, EMI released the greatest hits album '' Best of the EMI Years 1961â ...
and a rare cartoon cover for the obscure progressive rock outfit Rumpelstiltskin scripted by journalist/columnist Angus McGill.


Biba Cosmetics poster and Big Biba

In the late 60s, Thomas designed a poster to promote a new range of cosmetics from Biba, the boutique operated by
Barbara Hulanicki Barbara Hulanicki (b. 1936) is an English fashion designer, born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and best known as the founder of clothes store Biba. Early life Hulanicki was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents. Her father, Witol ...
and her husband
Stephen "Fitz" Fitz-Simon Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...
, at that stage situated at 124-126 Kensington Church Street. The poster, featuring a wistful portrait of the veiled actress
Ingrid Boulting Ingrid Boulting (born in Transvaal, Union of South Africa in 1947) is an actress and model, daughter of actress turned fashion model Enid Munnik (later Enid Boulting from her 2nd marriage in 1951) step-daughter of English film-maker Roy Boultin ...
taken by
Sarah Moon Sarah Moon HonFRPS (born Marielle Warin; 1941) is a French photographer. Initially a model, she turned to fashion photography in the 1970s. Since 1985, she has concentrated on gallery and film work. Biography Marielle Warin was born in Vernon, ...
won a 1970 British Design Council award. Whitmore-Thomas restyled the children’s department within the Biba store and, with the launch of Biba Cosmetics, designed display units installed in concessions around the country. In 1971, as Hulanicki and Fitz-Simon set about planning the expansion of their business into the large block previously operated as
Derry & Tom's Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
at 107-111 Kensington High Street, Whitmore-Thomas was commissioned to handle the designs for the entire store, including interiors, signage, giant display items and graphic designs for the hundreds of own-brand product lines. The distinctive department logos were designed by illustrator
Kasia Charko Kasia () a Polish diminutive form of given name, a shortened version of the name ''Katarzyna.'' Notable people *Kasia Cerekwicka (born 1980), singer * Kasia Domanska (born 1972), painter *Kasia Haddad (born 1979), British actress *Kasia Kowalska ...
. On opening in September 1973, Big Biba was described by
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
as "the most beautiful store in the world". Big Biba closed in August 1975 after falling victim to a combination of over-ambition, in-fighting between the company's executives and the backers, property developer
British Land The British Land Company Public Limited Company is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It ...
and the UK's mid-70s economic recession.


Paul McCartney

The work for Big Biba drew a fresh set of commissions for Whitmore-Thomas, including Paul McCartney, who appointed the practice as in-house designers for his domestic and business interests, including the headquarters of McCartney's company PML in central London's
Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park leasehold estate, let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II of Engla ...
(complete with a recreation of his favourite Abbey Road studio in the basement), as well as recording studios in Sussex and on the Mull of Kintyre and private residences in London, Liverpool, Sussex and Scotland.


Whitmore-Thomas

As well as creating the livery for 25 buses on the Number 77 route, which passed Buckingham Palace in the Silver Jubilee year of 1977, the design practice serviced such clients as
Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris, where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock mark ...
,
Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
,
Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...
,
Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...
,
Pepsi Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long-standing rivalry ...
,
Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
, and Wrangler. The company became WTA when designer Chris Angell, who had worked with Thomas and Whitmore on Big Biba, became a director in 1993.


V&A acquires Whitmore-Thomas archive

In June 2020, London's
Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
acquired the entirety of the Whitmore-Thomas archive, with materials relating to 35 years of commissions. This follows the V&A's 1995 acquisition of material relating to Whitmore-Thomas's design work for Biba, including interiors, graphics and packaging. Subsequently, the V&A took possession of WT's Biba photographic archive, which contains work-in-progress & record shots of the completed project taken by Tim White and Tim Street-Porter. The 2020 acquisition includes designs for Paul McCartney’s central London offices as well farms and recording studios, liveries for Formula One racing teams, the London Transport Silver Jubilee Buses, a model village for restaurateurs the Roux Brothers, projects for Levi-Strauss, Pepsi-Cola, the BBC, Lloyds Bank and restaurants such as the revolving CN Tower in Toronto and Mon Plaisir in central London.


Later life

Following the dissolution of WTA, Thomas focused on painting as well as producing the book Welcome To Big Biba, which was published in 2006 and remains in print. Thomas's exhibition at Chelsea Space was held in 2008. Thomas, who has also staged one-man shows at the
Chelsea Arts Club Chelsea Arts Club is a private members' club at 143 Old Church Street in Chelsea, London with a membership of over 4,000, including artists, sculptors, architects, writers, designers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club wa ...
and Dorchester Collections, is based in Deal, Kent, where he continues to produce artworks and make prints. On July 12, 2017, Thomas appeared in the BBC Radio 4 series Only Artists in conversation with fellow artist Jim Moir (better known as comedian
Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), commonly known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist. He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. He is known for his surreal sense of humour. In 2003, Ree ...
).


References


External links

*
Steven Thomas - artist / printmaker

Steven Thomas Design
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Steve Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts British designers 1944 births Living people