Melissa Singer National Fashion Editor of ‘The Age’ and ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, invited guests as part of Melbourne’s Fashion Week for a night of conversation with Australian Designer Bianca Spender.
Photography – Sam Tabone
Bianca Spender is a designer at the forefront of Australian Fashion Design, she has worked in Milan and spent 3 years with Martine Sitbon in Paris as a junior designer. In 2004, Spender returned home to design under her mother Carla Zampatti and launched her own eponymous line in 2009.
Bianca Spender the label is renowned for its emphasis on creating elegant pieces that are sustainable and eco-friendly to the consumer.
Bianca’s passion is to educate the fashion consumer. Bianca says, “we need too, shift our minds on how we use things, we are better than a disposable society”.
Rallying against the fashion industry’s reliance to produce garments of mass production, Bianca and her team are at the forefront for changing the way to become eco-friendlier. Bianca’s latest collection used dead stock fabric. Deadstock for those that don’t know refers to fabric that hasn’t been sold, may have been slightly damaged or may have been over ordered by a previous label leaving remains to be used. By rescuing fabric, labels such as Bianca Spender become eco friendly turning what was waste into fashion and avoiding more landfill.
Bianca says, “I’m at a stage of experimentation, with age you can become more experimental. I’m looking at more made to order pieces at a higher level. I want to build a closer relationship with the consumer, I’m inspired by their stories. I’m also looking at hiring garments out. I wonder why people buy something that is cheap, that someone was paid poorly to make. Is rental the answer?”
Bianca alongside Melissa Singer inspired the audience as well as educating us that, fast fashion is creating an environmental crisis. The industry must change, and we can’t let words like ‘Designer’ or ‘Luxury’ scare us, even though this is often related to being more expensive.
As Bianca says, “Buy fewer things, love them and wear them every day. The day they disintegrate you know you loved it and wore it well. Learn to engage with fashion and cherish each piece”.
Written by Melinda Sullivan
Photography Sam Tabone
