Bella Freud quits Biba

Designer Bella Freud has quit Biba to focus on her own collection. Biba, which shows during London Fashion Week, was relaunched only last year, failing expectations to return to its iconic status of the 60s. "Even when I was working with Biba, I was doing my own collection on a minute scale. Now, I really want to put all of my energy into it. It's still going to be small, but it will reflect all my passion and imagination," Freud told WWD Wednesday.

A Biba spokesman confirmed Freud left the company after the fall 2007 season, but declined to comment on her replacement. The once-iconic label has been undergoing a relaunch with fashion entrepreneur Michael Pearce, the chief executive officer of Biba and creative director of the brand, which was founded in 1964 by Barbara Hulanicki.

Freud, who had been a consulting designer at Biba for three seasons, is not planning to stage a runway show during London Fashion Week. Instead, she'll show her collection as if it were an art exhibition during the run-up to London's Frieze Art Fair, which occurs Oct. 11 to 14.

"I didn't want to be a dot on the London Fashion Week calendar. I thought it would be better to show the collection more in the context of the art fair - and it suits my own timing," she said. In addition to the new ready-to-wear line, Freud has designed a capsule collection of cat-print sweaters for London's Dover Street Market. That collection will be available beginning at the end of this month. Freud launched her ownsake label in 1990.