Bianca Saunders links with Farah for 2022 collab

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 2, 2021

One of the UK’s hottest young designers, Bianca Saunders, has linked with Farah for a collab collection that’s set to launch early next year.

The SS22 Uptown Top Ranking collab from the RCA graduate and Andam Award winner continues Farah’s support of emerging young British designers. And it sees her signature menswear vision “reimagining the brand’s extensive archive into modern, contemporary designs”.

“Collaborating with Farah has allowed me to continue to explore what I love — the nuances of masculinity together with the influences of my Caribbean heritage,” she said. “Going deep into the Farah archives and finding ways to push forward the signature cuts and silhouettes of the brand with my own transformative techniques, has been a real honour”.

The starting point was the brand’s historical FaraPress trousers that were a 1970s icon, so it’s no surprise that the collection also focuses on male subcultures from that decade. Meanwhile the title of the collection was inspired by the 1978 track of the same name by Althea & Donna, “which describes how a Jamaican man would dress himself up as he heads to the city to show off”. 

The company said: “From album covers to family photos of her uncles; a homage to these confident men in her life with their neatly pressed, ironed-out crease trousers who prided themselves on projecting polished dressing and all its sartorial associations are the true vision for the collection.”

And Farah’s Global Head of Design & Concept, Chris O’Brien, added: “We are really excited to collaborate with Bianca. Her exploration of male identity through style and subculture is what the Farah brand stands for. Celebrating her Caribbean heritage, the music of a decade that inspired so many movements with modern adaptations that still hold true to both brands, is the makings of a wonderful collaboration.”