Subtly irreverent and totally twisted, at Bianca Saunders’ AW23 menswear show nothing was as it seemed. Inspired by Oliver at Large, the quick-witted sitcom widely regarded as a Jamaican cultural classic, Saunders’ saw this as her starting point. Oliver at Large was the brainchild of Oliver Samuels, AKA the island nation’s “King of Comedy”, whose performance throughout the show transformed simplistic and stripped-back set-ups, tricking the eye into seeing a world far greater than what first impressions may have implied. Saunders’ too, played tricks on her guests, proposing a winter collection with a parallel sensibility that explored the malleability of perception. She called it Playwork.
Playing with plural perspectives, papery brown leather trousers had seams that spiralled out from the inner thigh, distorting where a stitch might start or where a print might end. Bow-legged, raw-edge, contrast stitch indigo denim co-ords appeared intentionally unfinished. These were worn alongside gargantuan wool greatcoats which boasted bunched and gathered pleats along the left breast to create the illusion of a devil-may-care hunch. The back hem of a black nylon, knee-grazing bomber came lurched up to reveal the lower back and on the side a swooping, solid carapace was revealed.
A section of brain-boggling prints that looked like they had been re-rendered and blown up from pre-smart technology, dial-up-internet screen grabs were actually abstracted stills from Oliver At Large, transposed onto sweaters, tees and trackies. Then came silk shirts that had the fuzz of wool fleece permeating their fluidity, and melodramatic visuals of curtain drapes on jersey twin sets that channelled the defamiliarised material textures of Louise Giovanelli’s paintings. Two back-to-back looks displayed psychedelic aura-like vertical streaks; the next two touted warped and wavy versions of the same segmented lines, artfully manipulated.
It wasn’t all warped though; a rib knit twin set in a calming écru hue was geared towards lounging on the sofa in style, and a sleek, stone-grey tailored trouser and ivory suit were everyday classics. The architecturally-inspired suit jackets navigated the nuances of tailoring, the pillar of the brand, without obstacle. This was Bianca Saunders distorted and distinguished.
Photography courtesy of Bianca Saunders.
