Bianca Saunders brought her Fall 2025 collection to the Palais de Tokyo. Titled “Dichotomy,” it unpacks, as she put it in her notes, “two opposing forces that, when combined, create something entirely new.” For Saunders, that meant translating movement and restraint into pieces with stretched membranes, tethered weights, and contorted silhouettes.
Young models drifted past in garments that played with tension. Some dragged weighted bundles attached to their sleeves or pant legs, echoing the choreography of Jamaican dancers she’d studied in archival footage: “drawn to the idea of repetition in dance moves, where sequences are built on simplicity yet come together to create something intricate, intentional whilst forming a cohesive routine.” The clothes adopted dance’s natural creases and folds, visible in fragmented shirts, ribbed tops, and her signature bow-legged Manner trousers.
Saunders, the 2021 ANDAM Fashion Prize winner, has been forging her path in menswear with a focus on layered references. Artist Shanti Bell, who teamed with Saunders on Somerset House’s The Missing Thread, devised a stark installation in the center of the space. “We considered how this juxtaposition between freedom and restriction could be visually explored, creating this moment of contrast and celebration of movement,” said Bell. The concept synced seamlessly with Saunders’s idea of pulling fabrics tight or knotting them, a nod to Steven Parrino’s torn canvases and their artful brutality.
Her straightforward pants, some with utility flaps or subtle piping, hinted at classic tailoring. Yet the designer also skewed norms with inflated bandanas as neck warmers and ballooning trousers pinned at the ankle. There were crisp dress shirts with low-slung batwing sleeves and grid-like wrinkles locked in place—proof that Saunders is equally invested in rethinking fundamentals.
Robert Longo’s “Men in the Cities” photo series remained a central influence, balancing a spin on feminine styling with robust workwear details. It was a clear expression of the collection’s split identity, a line that toyed with boundaries and then moved right past them. Saunders has a track record of collaborations, including a 2022 venture with Wrangler, and her embrace of elastic ideas continues here. After the show, she noted that the overall performance owed much to Bell’s presence. Movement, she suggested, can feel freed even when it’s weighted down.
