Latest news with #BiancaSpender
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Designer brings beach to the runway in playful show
Making swimwear look like editorial runway fashion is a task not many designers take on. But Bianca Spender has found a way. On a blank concrete runway with a sand curtain draped to the side, the Sydney-based designer's Summer 25 collection reformed the bikini and one-piece. The collection named DELIQUESCE alludes to "catharsis, being set free and surrendering to currents", according to Spender. Clean lines contrasted with fluid drapes play into the watery feel as Spender elevates the cocktail summer style. Midnight-black and pearl-white pieces pointed to her signature restrictive palette at the Australian Fashion Week show on Wednesday. But among the binary tones, smudges of playful pink stood out. A rose shell-like top paired with a more classic pink skirt was one of them. The jagged lines of the top contrasted the simplistic ankle hemline of the bottom. This playful piece is an ode to her late mother and fashion mogul Carla Zampatti, who was known for modern and timeless designs. Spender spent her teenage years designing in her mother's studio, which is why modern and timeless designs reminiscent of the matriarch appeared on the runway. Beyond Zampatti, her family are well-known faces of the industry. Her sister, newly re-elected independent MP Allegra Spender, was the former managing director of the family brand, while half-brother Alex Schuman is chief executive of their late mother's line. But what sets Spender's 17-year-old brand apart from her mother's is the blend of masculine and feminine fashion constructs in her pieces. This tailoring builds on her mother's clean-cut designs. A jet-black swimsuit was contrasted by a white linen button-up and a pearl blazer fitted with knee-length shorts allowed masculinity to be seen in the feminine clothes. The most different piece in the collection came in a pink polka dot-top wrapped around the neck and draped like a curtain above the belly button. On the bottom sits gleaming white underwear alluding to the beach style of the show, but vibrant orange-red slippers draw the eye most. However, the inconstant outfit is connected by thin piece of pink fabric running from the top to the shoe, something unseen in Spender's usually seamless designs. Making swimwear look like editorial runway fashion is a task not many designers take on. But Bianca Spender has found a way. On a blank concrete runway with a sand curtain draped to the side, the Sydney-based designer's Summer 25 collection reformed the bikini and one-piece. The collection named DELIQUESCE alludes to "catharsis, being set free and surrendering to currents", according to Spender. Clean lines contrasted with fluid drapes play into the watery feel as Spender elevates the cocktail summer style. Midnight-black and pearl-white pieces pointed to her signature restrictive palette at the Australian Fashion Week show on Wednesday. But among the binary tones, smudges of playful pink stood out. A rose shell-like top paired with a more classic pink skirt was one of them. The jagged lines of the top contrasted the simplistic ankle hemline of the bottom. This playful piece is an ode to her late mother and fashion mogul Carla Zampatti, who was known for modern and timeless designs. Spender spent her teenage years designing in her mother's studio, which is why modern and timeless designs reminiscent of the matriarch appeared on the runway. Beyond Zampatti, her family are well-known faces of the industry. Her sister, newly re-elected independent MP Allegra Spender, was the former managing director of the family brand, while half-brother Alex Schuman is chief executive of their late mother's line. But what sets Spender's 17-year-old brand apart from her mother's is the blend of masculine and feminine fashion constructs in her pieces. This tailoring builds on her mother's clean-cut designs. A jet-black swimsuit was contrasted by a white linen button-up and a pearl blazer fitted with knee-length shorts allowed masculinity to be seen in the feminine clothes. The most different piece in the collection came in a pink polka dot-top wrapped around the neck and draped like a curtain above the belly button. On the bottom sits gleaming white underwear alluding to the beach style of the show, but vibrant orange-red slippers draw the eye most. However, the inconstant outfit is connected by thin piece of pink fabric running from the top to the shoe, something unseen in Spender's usually seamless designs. Making swimwear look like editorial runway fashion is a task not many designers take on. But Bianca Spender has found a way. On a blank concrete runway with a sand curtain draped to the side, the Sydney-based designer's Summer 25 collection reformed the bikini and one-piece. The collection named DELIQUESCE alludes to "catharsis, being set free and surrendering to currents", according to Spender. Clean lines contrasted with fluid drapes play into the watery feel as Spender elevates the cocktail summer style. Midnight-black and pearl-white pieces pointed to her signature restrictive palette at the Australian Fashion Week show on Wednesday. But among the binary tones, smudges of playful pink stood out. A rose shell-like top paired with a more classic pink skirt was one of them. The jagged lines of the top contrasted the simplistic ankle hemline of the bottom. This playful piece is an ode to her late mother and fashion mogul Carla Zampatti, who was known for modern and timeless designs. Spender spent her teenage years designing in her mother's studio, which is why modern and timeless designs reminiscent of the matriarch appeared on the runway. Beyond Zampatti, her family are well-known faces of the industry. Her sister, newly re-elected independent MP Allegra Spender, was the former managing director of the family brand, while half-brother Alex Schuman is chief executive of their late mother's line. But what sets Spender's 17-year-old brand apart from her mother's is the blend of masculine and feminine fashion constructs in her pieces. This tailoring builds on her mother's clean-cut designs. A jet-black swimsuit was contrasted by a white linen button-up and a pearl blazer fitted with knee-length shorts allowed masculinity to be seen in the feminine clothes. The most different piece in the collection came in a pink polka dot-top wrapped around the neck and draped like a curtain above the belly button. On the bottom sits gleaming white underwear alluding to the beach style of the show, but vibrant orange-red slippers draw the eye most. However, the inconstant outfit is connected by thin piece of pink fabric running from the top to the shoe, something unseen in Spender's usually seamless designs. Making swimwear look like editorial runway fashion is a task not many designers take on. But Bianca Spender has found a way. On a blank concrete runway with a sand curtain draped to the side, the Sydney-based designer's Summer 25 collection reformed the bikini and one-piece. The collection named DELIQUESCE alludes to "catharsis, being set free and surrendering to currents", according to Spender. Clean lines contrasted with fluid drapes play into the watery feel as Spender elevates the cocktail summer style. Midnight-black and pearl-white pieces pointed to her signature restrictive palette at the Australian Fashion Week show on Wednesday. But among the binary tones, smudges of playful pink stood out. A rose shell-like top paired with a more classic pink skirt was one of them. The jagged lines of the top contrasted the simplistic ankle hemline of the bottom. This playful piece is an ode to her late mother and fashion mogul Carla Zampatti, who was known for modern and timeless designs. Spender spent her teenage years designing in her mother's studio, which is why modern and timeless designs reminiscent of the matriarch appeared on the runway. Beyond Zampatti, her family are well-known faces of the industry. Her sister, newly re-elected independent MP Allegra Spender, was the former managing director of the family brand, while half-brother Alex Schuman is chief executive of their late mother's line. But what sets Spender's 17-year-old brand apart from her mother's is the blend of masculine and feminine fashion constructs in her pieces. This tailoring builds on her mother's clean-cut designs. A jet-black swimsuit was contrasted by a white linen button-up and a pearl blazer fitted with knee-length shorts allowed masculinity to be seen in the feminine clothes. The most different piece in the collection came in a pink polka dot-top wrapped around the neck and draped like a curtain above the belly button. On the bottom sits gleaming white underwear alluding to the beach style of the show, but vibrant orange-red slippers draw the eye most. However, the inconstant outfit is connected by thin piece of pink fabric running from the top to the shoe, something unseen in Spender's usually seamless designs.
AU Financial Review
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- AU Financial Review
Allegra Spender's fashionista sister wants to make women feel free
Before her Australian Fashion Week show on Wednesday afternoon, designer Bianca Spender walked around St Barnabas' Church in Ultimo, where she had staged her catwalk, acknowledging the names of every guest she had invited. 'I really wanted to feel present in the show,' she said. 'I've never had a wedding, but people tell me it's similar – you spend so long planning this big moment and then it flies right by you.'
Perth Now
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Designer brings beach to the runway in playful show
Making swimwear look like editorial runway fashion is a task not many designers take on. But Bianca Spender has found a way. On a blank concrete runway with a sand curtain draped to the side, the Sydney-based designer's Summer 25 collection reformed the bikini and one-piece. The collection named DELIQUESCE alludes to "catharsis, being set free and surrendering to currents", according to Spender. Clean lines contrasted with fluid drapes play into the watery feel as Spender elevates the cocktail summer style. Midnight-black and pearl-white pieces pointed to her signature restrictive palette at the Australian Fashion Week show on Wednesday. But among the binary tones, smudges of playful pink stood out. A rose shell-like top paired with a more classic pink skirt was one of them. The jagged lines of the top contrasted the simplistic ankle hemline of the bottom. This playful piece is an ode to her late mother and fashion mogul Carla Zampatti, who was known for modern and timeless designs. Spender spent her teenage years designing in her mother's studio, which is why modern and timeless designs reminiscent of the matriarch appeared on the runway. Beyond Zampatti, her family are well-known faces of the industry. Her sister, newly re-elected independent MP Allegra Spender, was the former managing director of the family brand, while half-brother Alex Schuman is chief executive of their late mother's line. But what sets Spender's 17-year-old brand apart from her mother's is the blend of masculine and feminine fashion constructs in her pieces. This tailoring builds on her mother's clean-cut designs. A jet-black swimsuit was contrasted by a white linen button-up and a pearl blazer fitted with knee-length shorts allowed masculinity to be seen in the feminine clothes. The most different piece in the collection came in a pink polka dot-top wrapped around the neck and draped like a curtain above the belly button. On the bottom sits gleaming white underwear alluding to the beach style of the show, but vibrant orange-red slippers draw the eye most. However, the inconstant outfit is connected by thin piece of pink fabric running from the top to the shoe, something unseen in Spender's usually seamless designs.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
How the late Carla Zampatti is influencing designers at Australian Fashion Week
Australian design icon Carla Zampatti continued to influence local designers at the brand's opening of Australian Fashion Week in Sydney on Monday night. The Carla Zampatti brand celebrated 60 years of its elegant designs with 60 looks featured on an outdoor runway at the Museum of Contemporary Art along Sydney's harbour. The designer launched the eponymous label in 1965, and released her first national collection five years later. She died in 2021 after a serious fall at an outdoor opera event aged 78. Chief executive of Carla Zampatti and son of the late designer, Alex Schuman, said he wanted the brand's 60th anniversary to celebrate Australia's designers. "There are countless designers, stylists, photographers, even models, who got their first run in Carla Zampatti, and now they've got their own brands," Mr Schuman said. As part of the runway, 14 local designers were featured, including Grace Lillian Lee, Pip Edwards, Michael Lo Sordo and Zampatti's daughter Bianca Spender. Sydney-based designer Lo Sordo was mentored by Zampatti and said he was "honoured" to be one of the 14 designers to feature in this "milestone" runway. He said Zampatti would "swan in and swan out" of rooms, often unannounced, and that "effortless" presence was inspiration for his garment. "Carla touched so many people over the decades of her legacy and her career." Lo Sordo said the next generation of designers were carrying on Zampatti's legacy and "taking Carla into the future". With Australian Fashion Week nearing three decades, the event's format has changed over the years. This year, not-for-profit organisation the Australian Fashion Council has taken control of the event. Australian Fashion Week CEO, Kellie Hush, said the week was a "trade event" and not "fashion entertainment". "We are not set up to make a profit out of Australian Fashion Week; we are here to serve the industry … and make sure it's strong for the future," Ms Hush said. "The domestic customer is really important … what's happening internationally in unpredictable." The fashion landscape in Australia has been hit by ongoing cost-of-living pressures and is impacted by the recent tariffs imposed by the US. Australia's fashion industry is worth about $28 billion and just over $7 billion of this is from exports, according to the Australian Fashion Council. Carla Zampatti holds a unique position, being a locally made brand. "We're Australian-made; it doesn't really impact us … I think for brands that are exporting Chinese-made products, it's going to be a really big challenge from them," Mr Schuman said. Despite cost of living pressures, Mr Schuman said he has noticed a consumer shift towards local brands. Lo Sordo said Australian Fashion Week was a prime opportunity for the new generation of designers. "It's a really important time at the moment where we need to focus on our local industry," Lo Sordo said. Designs from Monday night's runway with Carla Zampatti will be donated to a permanent collection of works by Australian designers at the Powerhouse Museum.
