Friday, November 22, 2024

Check In to “The Hotel” of Bianca Saunders for SS25

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Bianca Saunders‘ detailed eye for menswear is evident in everything she creates, and Spring/Summer 2025 is no different. The London-based designer is already well-established across the UK and beyond but continues to make noise across international borders. From debuting her first unisex line to mentoring students at Istituto Marangoni London, Bianca Saunders is on top of the world.

Bianca Saunders has returned to Paris Fashion Week, kicking off the second day with an intimate runway tapping into Jamaican tourism culture. “I wanted to play with the idea of tourism because it’s been a while since I visited Jamaica; I’ve been thinking of making my next visit there at the end of the year,” she told Hypebeast post-show. “Looking at a lot of tourist sightings, I wanted to mix it with British tailoring — going to Jamaica in the 1940s and what that would have been like for someone who was packing.”

The designer invites us to check in to “The Hotel” of Bianca Saunders for SS25, playing with sartorial tailoring and elevated menswear that has become her signature. Vacation-inspired resort photographs by photojournalist Bradley Smith inspired the collection, capturing international characters on their getaway to the Caribbean isles. Hotel workmen, including butlers, drivers, and fishermen, boast reimagined uniforms equipped for beaming days under the Jamaican sunshine. The latter opened the runway with an asymmetrical knitted cap to block the sun away, wearing a bandaged silk top and low-slung trousers complete with strapped footwear made in partnership with the Portuguese Association of Footwear and Leather Goods.

Local shoppers walked the runway with knotted tote bags to carry their groceries home, while Bianca Saunders’ signature skewed silhouettes reimagine poolside gear with slanted prints. Protective denim sets were tucked into knee-high fishermen’s boots for supreme protection, followed by illusion-heavy looks manipulating the body into the ideal hourglass figure. Drawing on her memories of the Jamaican evening, she mimics the star-filled skies on shimmering ensembles that glisten under the spotlight, paired with miniature skintight shorts paying tribute to local schoolboy uniforms.

“Since I haven’t been there for a while, I thought that I might feel like a tourist,” Saunders says with a laugh. “Even though it’s the Caribbean, people wear a lot of winter stuff, so the knee-high boots, for example, are quite influential in the culture. Also, the bright colors mixed with patchwork can be found in Jamaican households, or what you would bring someone back to remind them of Jamaica.”

Take a closer look at Bianca Saunders’ SS25 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned for more Paris Fashion Week content on Hypebeast.

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