Designer brings seaside to the runway in playful present | USAEMALL.com

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.