London Designer Bianca Saunders Shares Survival Guide for African Fashion At GTCO Fashion Weekend

As a British-Jamaican designer celebrated for her refined, forward-thinking approach, **Bianca Saunders** brings a unique, practical perspective to the challenges faced by emerging African and diaspora designers. During a masterclass session at the GTCO Fashion Weekend in Lagos. The Royal College of Art graduate and founder of her namesake 2017 label shared candid advice on navigating production hurdles, scaling a brand, and mastering digital storytelling.
Addressing the persistent issues of production and distribution that plague many African designers, Saunders advocated for a nuanced, hybrid approach that balances local craft with global efficiency.
While acknowledging the current difficulty in manufacturing textiles locally, Saunders advised new brands to focus strategically at the start:
“I would definitely say if you’re starting a new brand, start with one type of thing. We develop denim, leather, woven all at once. I think that’s what kind of helped the brand scale quite quickly because we was able to work with retailers across the globe and have our stuff in different parts of the world.”
She noted that African designers are increasingly finding a necessary balance: “I’ve definitely noticed a lot of African designers have been using their brand to kind of base it more on the craft sense and then use other countries for other things that out there have perfected more. So there’s a balance of both.”
Saunders stressed that while knowing your limits is vital, an entrepreneur must first master every aspect of the business before delegating.
“I think in the beginning you definitely have to be, you have to learn it all because then how are you going to tell someone that they’re doing their job wrong?” she challenged. “I’ve done every single job in my business. And I guess to a certain point where you have to stop. You have to know when you’re not good at things.”
The recipe for scaling, she concluded, is about strategic empowerment: “I am able to kind of create the job descriptions and find the great people that are better than me to actually make the business bigger than it is.”
In a powerful piece of advice for young designers struggling with brand identity on social media, Saunders revealed that her secret sauce lies in complete transparency and viewing herself as a “photographer first.”
“When you have a brand, you need to think about the points that you want people to come to you for. I have three points which is, I guess, innovation, craft and then storytelling,” she said.
The key to connecting with a global audience is showing the process, not just the finished product.
“I will post my research, I’ll post like the behind the scenes, I want people to see who we’re making. When someone asks them, what’s that print? They are able to be like, ‘Oh it came from this TV show and Bianca was inspired by that,’ and those stories is what makes a brand really important.”
Saunders emphasized that being transparent with the audience and using visual mediums to communicate the ‘why’ behind the design is essential for building the loyalty that drives global sales.