Bianca Saunders x Puma26 Images
Back in April, Bianca Saunders launched 38 Love Lane. Created in collaboration with Amsterdam-based photographer Kwabena Sekyi Appiah-Nti, the zine explored Saunders’ Jamaican heritage, returning to the country for a series of intimate shoots, and featuring contributions from the writer Jordan Anderson and her mother Yvonne. This past weekend, to celebrate Jamaican Independence Day, Saunders brought the zine to life in Shoreditch, teaming up with Puma for “a multi-sensory pop-up celebrating heritage, identity, and community.” With Puma’s new H-Street Jamaica pack available to purchase – as well as Saunders’ SS25 collection – throngs of Londoners made their way down to Bethnal Green Road to start their summer in style.
However, stepping into the space, it became immediately clear that the immersive experience wasn’t a blow-for-blow remake of the zine, but an artistic reinterpretation of the publication. Walls were draped with ecru fabric by set designer Y Lan Lucas, music curated by Stephanie Okoye rang through the space, and archival imagery from the zine decorated the wooden floorboards. “I always like to see my Jamaican eye as a modernistic eye,” says Saunders of her curation of the space. “Sometimes there’s this very stereotypical way of doing things when it comes to ‘this is what it needs to be Caribbean’, but I feel like there’s multiple ways of representing that.”
In the conversation below, Saunders discusses her “modernist” interpretation of Jamaican culture, the pressure put on Caribbean creatives, and her favourite silhouette in the Puma archive.
Bianca Saunders – 38 Love Lane zine46 Images
Hey Bianca! Can you tell us what inspired the immersive experience with Puma?
Bianca Saunders: I thought it was the perfect opportunity to create a space that was an extension of the brand and build more community with a direct-to-consumer event – that’s basically where we’ve pivoted with the brand. Community has always been at the forefront of the brand as a whole, so the more in person you can get, the better.
I always wanted to do something with Puma and I guess we just came together and ideated a plan, and this was the best way to do it, in line with Jamaican Independence Day. Because this is the start of August we wanted to get people ready for Notting Hill Carnival and all of those events that follow on from it.
The zine and pop-up is called 38 Love Lane. What’s the significance of that address?
Bianca Saunders: So, it was the road that we shot the zine on in Jamaica. One of the models took us there – that’s where his grandma lived. It was kind of like a memory of familiarity, so we called the zine that.
That idea of ‘home’ – whether tied to your parents or grandparents – is such a cultural touchstone for Caribbeans and British West Indians. Those living rooms are deeply evocative spaces; why do you think they continue to inspire?
Bianca Saunders: I think everyone just loves the idea of familiarity. I think that’s what really connects people, is keeping things that are from the old and then bringing it into what they know. I feel like the world is moving so quickly, so we need that grounding that brings us back home.
I see 38 Love Lane – both the zine and the pop-up – almost as an act of cultural preservation. Is that how you see it? If so, why is it important?
Bianca Saunders: I guess it’s important to me because it’s an exploration – it’s important to remember who you are and where you come from. I guess that’s how London is built, from a mixture of cultures and everyone’s been able to [preserve their cultures] whether it’s through the lingo, for example. I feel like the Windrush generation has been quite prominent with that preservation – what we eat, the events that we celebrate throughout the year, that sort of thing.
My experience of being a British-Jamaican is what I remember, but also how I move forward – Bianca Saunders
The zine has those evocative images of living rooms in it, but the immersive space is quite different.
Bianca Saunders: I always like to see my Jamaican eye as a modernistic eye. So there are touchpoints of that style, but not so old-fashioned, because my experience of being a British-Jamaican is what I remember, but also how I move forward.
That’s why the space isn’t just an exact replica of a Jamaican living room.
Bianca Saunders: Sometimes there’s this very stereotypical way of doing things when it comes to ‘this is what it needs to be Caribbean’, but I feel like there’s multiple ways of representing that. There are multiple viewpoints of experience, because I am British as well, so there’s a mixture of those two things.
I think that can be seen in how every other designer is quite different in terms of how they see their British-Caribbean heritage. In terms of how I actually design my clothes, I always want there to be a nod to it, but not a full-blown reference.
Why do you lean away from the full-blown references?
Bianca Saunders: To be fair, there’s some things that do have that, like the t-shirt that says ‘Who God Bless, No Man Curse’. But there’s also things that are like, a swirl of a print from a Jamaican TV show, used in an artistic way. I think it’s about how I’m inspired by things and what I actually really want to wear. I’d hate to make a brand that I didn’t want to wear.
Do you ever feel pressure to make those more obvious, expected designs?
Bianca Saunders: There still is that pressure to do the expected thing, but I think that’s why this particular pop-up is called 38 Love Lane, because it’s more like an offshoot. There are other parts of the brand: the expression of masculine and feminine is like the bottom of the pyramid. Then you have the culture, and then the storytelling, because sometimes I don’t always want to tell a story. Maybe I’m just exploring how we design something to make it look really cool.
Bianca Saunders x Puma immersive eventPhotography Mimi Ezinne
Especially for people of colour, there’s always a pressure to constantly be saying something about your identity or telling a story. But sometimes we just want to look cool.
Bianca Saunders: I think as well too, there’s not really much of a need for it right now, in the time that we’re in. It’s not a thing that is trending right now, that you need to tell everyone who you are. I don’t think people are that interested. They just want to feel vibrant, they want to feel cool. I think that’s the main thing that connects people to my cultural storytelling, rather than them being massively interested in Jamaica.
How do you feel about that? Is that a good or bad thing?
Bianca Saunders: I think it’s just a thing. I think people respect the storytelling, but I think the majority of the time, they’re actually drawn towards the actual design. From what I’ve seen in terms of the people who buy into the brand, they’re quite understated.
When I first started the brand, I always wanted to have other creative projects, and what keeps me refreshed in my creativity is having those outlets as well – Bianca Saunders
Do you have anything coming up for SS26 from the Bianca Saunders brand, as you didn’t show in Paris in June?
Bianca Saunders: Basically, I’ve been working on some separate design projects. I’ve been doing costume design for film and also for performance. When I first started the brand, I always wanted to have other creative projects, and I think what keeps me refreshed in my creativity is having those outlets as well.
Can you say what the film project is?
Bianca Saunders: I can’t say what it is right now, but the performance one is involving the Barbados government. I’m working with JA Projects, the architectural firm – they did Black Masculinities at the V&A – and they’ve brought me on as a costume designer. The performance film is by Nowness and David Adjaye has built the set, which is really exciting.
Scroll through the galleries above for Saunders’ 38 Love Lane pop-up and zine
