BIANCA SAUNDERS AW22: "A STRETCH"

Bianca Saunders is proud to present her first solo catwalk show, with a collection that defines her design world then pushes it forward. Experimentation in cut; flat vs 3D; movement of clothes; the body – these are the themes that obsess Saunders as she consolidates the language of her label.

The show is also the London-born designer’s debut in Paris, following her winning the prestigious ANDAM Award in 2021, previously won by designers such as Martin Margiela, Anthony Vaccarello, Iris Van Herpen and Marine Serre.

“I want the collection to be timeless – it could be now, it could be the past, it could be the future. It’s not just about one person – I want everyone to see a part of themselves in it”, says Bianca Saunders.

Saunders has designed warped check prints that create visual 3D on flat surfaces, such as a black and-white warped check on a stretch top and matching pants. The top has a notched neckline, while the shoulder seam is moved closer to the neck to create a more curved and natural sleeve. Warped checks run throughout, as if stretched around the body.

Jackets and coats looked wrapped and held in place, all through Saunders’ ingenious cutting. A jacket printed with a blue weave, looking like TV static, is actually a pullover, cut with a notched neckline which wraps over then is held by a press stud. Its sleeves are pleated from shoulder to cuff, creating both flatness from the front and three dimensions from the side.

The same wrapping technique is used for a cropped padded coat, which comes in both white and black. It looks like it’s wrapped and held in place, but it’s cut like a pullover with a notched neckline, giving it the extra volume to create the wrapped effect. From the back, Saunders has cut a deeply vented sleeve, so it looks like a gilet on top of a jacket.

Saunders has cut pants as if everything has been shifted to the right. Denim pants are as if an oversized pair have been folded over from the left to create a regular waist, with the seam of the fly also echoing itself rightwards. Another fold to the right heightens the impression, as does the engineered seam, yet from the back the pants are cut as if everything is normal. It’s the same for a pair of black tailored trousers: as if shifted to the right from the front, regular from the back.

Experimentation runs throughout. An oversized ketchup red knit has a wrapped collar and ingeniously cut sleeves. Saunders starts the shoulder earlier than most sweaters, at the point where the shoulder blades sit. She then begins the sleevehead with a dart, to create a rounded shape that follows a more natural anatomy.

Leather is crucial, like a green leather jacket cut with the Saunders signature rolled shoulder. Leather has also been thinned then treated to create a paper-thin wrapped leather jacket, cut like a pullover, with pockets that purposefully slant.

It’s a collection of key pieces, like a red tailored coat cut to wrap on the body, a denim jacket that wraps around, or two black tailored jackets that highlight the Saunders shoulder signatures: one with a rolled shoulder, the other with a darted sleeve. Saunders also reintroduces a scarf headlined “REMEMBER THIS” that’s become like a motto for the attitude and energy of the brand.

Written by Charlie Porter