Unusual Biba Label - Need Help!

[Elly Maggy Vintage]

Hi everyone, I hope some Biba fans might be able to help with this mystery jacket! My Mum bought it from a U.K. charity shop in the early 1970s. It is a deep purple and yellow (it appears slightly more blue in the attached images) and is fully lined.

My Mum bought other Biba items directly from the Biba shop but this particular jacket is a mystery as it has a very unusual label, which we cannot find online, despite much searching. We wonder if there might be a connection with the Australian fashion label, Merivale, as it says 'Merivale of London' below the Biba name. There is a small white label underneath the 'Biba' label with 'XSSW' on it.

Any ideas? Looking forward to finding out more about this one! Thank you!

 

[Pinkcoke]

It seems odd that your mother should have bought it from a charity shop in the early 70's when this is what was in fashion at that point - I wouldn't have placed this much earlier nor later. Generally items that are donated are out of fashion or flawed. The garment and label look right for the period though.

The only links between the name Merivale and Biba I could find refer to the Australian brand House of Merivale who were making similar things to Biba, but the fact the label says 'of London' would suggest there is no connection, as I can find no mention of Merivale ever having ventured out of Australia, although they did produce garments with other brands.
http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/merivale/

 

[Elly Maggy Vintage]

Thanks very much for the reply! It must have been donated new (or new-ish) and while in fashion... My Mum wonders if someone donated it because it was very bold and maybe not somebody's taste / a buyer's blunder, although she really liked it! The charity shop was in Staffordshire. She wore the jacket as a student so she can remember that she had acquired it by 1975.