I remember the first time I encountered Bianca Saunders’ brand, at a screening for a film she’d made to accompany one of her collections. These days, ‘storytelling’ is a buzzword in every brand marketer’s playbook, but for Bianca, it’s a natural and authentic extension of her designs. (One of my favourite projects she did was a zine called ‘We are one of the same’)
For those of you who don’t know her, Bianca a menswear designer from South London, who began her brand back in 2017. Since then, she’s won a slew of awards including New Establishment Menswear Designer At The 2023 British Fashion Awards and the prestigious Grand Prize at the 2021 ANDAM Awards (previous winners include Martin Margiela and Simon Jacquemus). She also dressed Usher for 2023’s Met Gala and accompanied him to the event.
Bianca has an innate elegance to her - over the past 7 years she’s remained headstrong in building her brand, moving forward and realising her vision with quiet determination. This elegance is reflected in her clothes, which are characterized by body mapping techniques and subtly subverted tailoring details. Her pieces are sensual and refined, but also seeped in storytelling about modern masculinity and her British-Caribbean heritage.
Here, she takes us through the story of her work via eight items of clothing. Read on to see pictures of her selects, and don’t forget to subscribe for more podcasts, essays and interviews. Hit the heart button if you enjoy the episode, and leave a comment to tell me who you want to hear from next. You can also follow Threads of Conversation on Instagram here.
The piece(s) that reminds Bianca of her childhood…
“So, I picked two. The first are those Scoubido bracelets that people used to make. I think even just having the skill of focusing on something and making a piece of jewellery was quite interesting as a child. Finding different ways of braiding them, and giving them to friends.”
“The second thing I chose are these pink Dr. Martens I bought when I went to all girls school. Dr. Martens were just so iconic. Everyone had really bright and garish colours, but I wanted to be different so I got a pastel pink colour. They used to have this thing called EMA - whenever you turn to college on time, you got paid around £30 a week. I saved my EMA money and bought these Dr. Martens - I was so excited about them.”
The piece that reminds Bianca of her career…
“I chose a black blazer. When I started, there weren’t that many examples of women doing menswear. I felt as though I looked really young, and I wanted people to take me seriously. So, whenever I had to go to an event or be in a photo shoot, I'd be like, ‘OK, let me just put on a black blazer from one of my collections.’ I think it always made me feel like a bit more in charge. I never wanted to appear too sexy in the beginning. I guess I wanted the work to be the focus, and I wanted people to think that I was a serious designer.”
“I think there's always this perception of how to appear as a fashion designer. Don't be too seen, or don't show too much of yourself. Which is quite interesting, because there are quite a few examples of people being out there with their fashion - from John Galliano to Jean Paul Gaultier. But I think currently it's not like that - everyone wants to be Margiela.”
The piece that reminds Bianca of a high…
“I was wearing these Bottega boots and I had these Jil Sander trousers. I went to Bicester Village with my boyfriend and I walked into the Jil Sander store like five times before I decided that I needed these trousers. I love them - their brand and everything like they stand for, and I liked the idea of being able to wear clothes really well.
This was my first time showing in Paris. I was looking at what other fashion designers wore when they walked out after showing their collection. I think for most [male designers], people ignore it. But I feel like as a woman, it's like, “Oh, why is she dressed like that? She doesn't look like a designer.’ I do get that quite a lot.”
The piece that reminds Bianca of a low…
“I didn’t pick anything for this, because I’m quite optimistic, and quite resilient. If something's made me feel sad, I've kind of blocked it out of my mind. I’ve never repeatedly worn something that's like, ‘Oh I remember wearing that when I was really sad.’ Of course, having a fashion brand, there have been so many lows. There have been so many times I'm where I’m like, ‘Am I actually sure I want to do this? It's a hard business, and I really want to remind myself of the all the good things. People don't really want to hear about the sad stuff. It's good to not just show the highlight reel, but I guess in life we do need the motivation of being happy and content. Because it's a constant battle!”
The piece that makes her feel a part of something…
“This is a scarf that I made around four years ago. It's a Caribbean saying - you usually get them as tourist items or on kitchen scrolls. Some people buy it to frame it. Sometimes within my collections, people are like, ‘Oh, but what's the Caribbean influence to it?’ They don't see it. But then every time someone sees this, they're like, ‘Oh, I totally get it and this reminds me of my grandma's house.’ I think that's what really just brings it all together and makes me feel I'm a part of something. It helps people understand my design story and understand what my community stands for.”
The piece that reminds her of a great party…
“I chose this crinkled suit jacket. It's single layered and it had tucked-in shoulders. I think it's an AW20 piece. Some stores wanted to buy it, but we couldn't reproduce it - it just took too long. Sometimes I do like mixing in some of my sample pieces, though. This party was at Soho House celebrating me winning the ANDAM prize, but the party ended up getting a bit wild because people were just on one! I remember the walls were sweating! Every time someone thinks about my parties, they think about this one in particular. Benji B did an opening set, and then I had quite a few of my friends DJ. It was multiple rooms, and my mum worked with the catering at Soho House to create the food.”
The piece that makes her feel sexy…
“I actually just love Conner Ives. He's such a fun talent, and what he does with upcycling is incredible. When I got the dress, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to wear this?’ It's a t-shirt dress with lace detailing and these skinny little straps and a fun motorcycle print on the front. I think whenever I have my sexy moments, people are like, ‘Bianca, I can't believe that's you. Who is this person?’ Usher's music has been quite influential throughout my existence. I went to see his concert in Vegas when we were doing the Met Gala experience. So I did a fitting out there and I saw his concert and I loved it. And then this time I brought my mum to see the concert and I was like, I definitely want to make sure I'm wearing my sexiest outfit.
I think sometimes in concerts, you dress according to the music, and I think that really influenced me. So whenever I want that sort of outfit, I bring out my Conner Ives dress.”
One that got away…
“I chose my ‘Personal Politics’ graduate collection - this look in particular, because I think it’s inspired a lot of my work thus far. I was looking for it recently, because sometimes we get requests from museums and galleries. I put it in a shed and one day they just cleared the whole shed out so I lost all of it, which is quite sad. But luckily I have the pattern somewhere, so I guess one day if someone does ask me to remake the whole thing again then I can.”
A few more things we discussed…
The Loïc Prigent video about Bianca’s first show in Paris.
The article I wrote comparing my experience of modelling for a life drawing class to modelling for fashion shoots. (No, the accompanying images are not me!)
And finally, a shoutout to Bianca’s tutor Andrew Ibi, educator, designer and the brain behind Somerset House’s amazing 2023 ‘Missing Thread’ exhibition.
Loose Threads
1Granary are offering a 30-day free trial of Mubi so you can watch the John Galliano documentary. The link is at the bottom of this page. I watched it and loved it - in a confusing, emotional, conflicted way. Let me know what you thought!
Kiko Mizuhara slept in a glass box for Paloma Wool. Just like Tilda Swinton at the Moma back in 2013.
Forgot to share this earlier, but the best quote from Mel Ottenberg’s iconic Rihanna cover interview, imho:
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A Thread about Bianca Saunders