Bianca Spender’s New Double Bay Store Is a Sanctuary Where Every Object Tells a Story
Words by Chloe Sachdev · Updated on 14 Apr 2022 · Published on 09 Mar 2022
Having grown up as the daughter of Australian fashion matriarch Carla Zampatti, you might think Bianca Spender’s rise in fashion was inevitable. But the Aussie designer, whose first boutique opened in Paddington some 14 years ago, insists it was the exact opposite.
“I was terrified of getting into an industry that my mum had such a large presence in. I’m not competitive at all, so it was hard to start in a business where my mum’s reputation already preceded me,” Spender tells Broadsheet.
This prompted the young Spender to move to Europe to learn the fashion ropes independently of her mum’s reputation. “That’s where I really grew in my design, from draping and storytelling. My creative development was born in the galleries every week,” she says.
Since then, Spender has carved her own reputation and aesthetic back here in the Australian fashion industry, and her singular vision is apparent in her latest boutique in Double Bay. It’s painted top-to-toe in varying soft shades of mint and sage, from the floor to the furniture and the ceiling. A departure from her whitewashed stores in Armadale and Mosman, the new all-green boutique was created as a sanctuary.
“After what we have journeyed through in the last two years, we really wanted to create a haven. A place that you can exhale and feel a sense of calm, peace and tranquillity,” says Spender.
Spender asked long-time collaborator and powerhouse florist Bess Scott of Bess Paddington, who uses locally grown flowers with a strong focus on natives, to create a dramatic floral installation of dried flowers woven in wire for the ceiling. “We wanted it to look like it was tumbling down like an overgrown forest.”
Sustainability and low waste have always been key for Spender when designing her boutiques. In Double Bay, most of the furniture has been sourced from second-hand stores, upcycled and painted green; changing-room curtains have been made from dead stock; and the mannequins are second hand. For Spender, everything – be it an object, a discarded piece of furniture or old fabric – has a past life and potential for a future purpose, “which makes for a more interesting in-store experience”, she says.
The in-store experience is paramount for Spender. “The personalisation, the service, the feeling of silk on your skin and the movement you can see,” she says. “There is a real sense of discovery in the market right now. People don’t have dress codes for work anymore; there is more fluidity about what you can wear every day. We all know that when you go into a restaurant, you smell it and respond to it. It’s the same in retail. As soon as you touch the fabric, before you even try it on, you can feel the pieces and respond to it.”
Being in Double Bay amplifies the shopping experience, she says. “It has an intimate village feel to it, and people have started reconnecting to their community again. The people walking into stores are really engaged, interested and inspired by what they see.”
Bianca Spender Double Bay
Shop G24, 2-22 Knox Street, Double Bay
0484 871 599
Hours:
Mon to Sat 10am–5pm
Sun 11am–4pm
