For as long as I can remember, each collection is inspired by a very clear concept or theory - something you set out to explore further in your design process. Do you mind sharing a little more about that type of practice?

"The beginning of each collection is my favourite phase when you’re in this explorative world and I think the most magical thing I learnt about that phase is that something that has been simmering behind subconsciously in the way you look at the world and the way you see things will come to the surface and you really don’t know where it is going to take you."

The result has always meant a collection imbued with so much meaning, what is that you wanted to say with this collection?

"This last season was one about courage and spirit and it was something that really came to me in this idea of disruptive beauty off the back of our disrupted reality with COVID. I wanted people to feel a sense of energy and optimism again and to embrace our new lives as we knew they would never be the same again." 

How would you describe your profession and craft?

"I’ve always thought of it as being the architect for the body or the sculptor in cloth. My craft is all about the third dimension and how we can enhance, distort, elongate, and play with form in a way that inspires." 

Do you mind sharing how a Bianca Spender dress comes into existence? From inspiration to the shop floor?

"With the world of dresses, it is for me most important to think about the fall of the fabric and often that starts with me, a roll of fabric and a mirror trying to unlock the perfect form for the colour, the weight, the print. That is something that really has a deeply felt sense for me on the body. We work with a lot of deadstock fabrics, and each of them has quite a unique character, we will then drape it on the mannequin, trace it onto a pattern, check all the flow-through and form and then make it in our studio. The piece then goes through fittings and evolutions to then be graded in multiple sizes and finally cut in our production facility through an electronic cutter and sewn by hand in Sydney before being delivered to our stores."
 

The show was a brave step forward since your mothers passing last year, your bravery didn’t go unnoticed by our wider community. Do you feel comfortable talking about what that was like for you? 

"With the passing of mum, something we have been talking about as a family is her courage and her spirit. I really challenged myself to be as courageous in my spirit. I felt that what we have all journeyed through with COVID, this was aligned with the sense of loss that other people had experienced and I wanted to encourage all of us to take big steps to create a brave new future.

We see this represented nationwide a week later in our federal election and there is a real spirit of change that I am excited to be a part of."