The London-born fashion brand that’s slowing things down and celebrating sisterhood.

Says Faye Hardy

Barbara Bianco is the London-born fashion brand launched out of lockdown in 2020 by designers Liv and Mollie.

They believe in making clothes that you’ll want to keep forever and founded the slow fashion label with the mission “to become your alternative to fast fashion”. Every Barbara Bianco piece is handmade by a small team, using materials sourced from independent UK suppliers and produced in limited batches, allowing the brand to tackle the issue of fabric waste that typically pollutes the industry.

“Women’s bodies are constantly changing and we love that we’ve created something that works with that.”

As much as the brand is about slow fashion, it’s also about celebrating women’s bodies and sisterhood. “Our Barbs girls are just having a laugh and unselfconsciously enjoying life and expressing themselves – and we want our clothes to embody that vibe,” say Liv and Mollie. “We really like to inject a bit of humour into the brand and we want our pieces to be full of life and really fun to wear, each piece has a story behind it.” And that’s why Barbara Bianco is more than just a name but a sort of character too, embodying the duo’s sense of style with a little bit of sass, sophistication and zero-f*cks-given vibes thrown in there for good measure too.

Collection-wise, the girls have always loved making their own clothes and are pretty familiar with London’s vintage scene, so you’re in safe slow fashion hands here. The new SS/22 collection (better known as A Hot Wet Summer) takes inspo from a British summer heatwave and the hedonism of nineties and noughties culture. “Our fave piece is the broderie trimmed denim jacket with Bye Gorgeous embroidered on the back. And we’ll be living in our neon crystal-encrusted bikinis all summer long” the pair say. You bet it’s cheeky, a little bit daring and a lot of fun.

Then there are the staples, and by staples we’re talking about the Barbs corsets, which have been spotted on the likes of Becky Hill and Maya Jama. “Our corset is an item that we find really empowering – everyone who wears it feels so good in it and it’s adjustable so it’s going to mould to whatever size your body fluctuates to. Women’s bodies are constantly changing and we love that we’ve created something that works with that.” We love to hear it.

When it comes to the future of Barbara Bianco, the girls are working on Barbara nights which will feature banging food and tunes. “We’d also love to be stocked in some retailers with a sustainable fashion focus and we have plans for a menswear capsule collection” they tease. And when we ask them about how us Londoners can start to make space for more slow fashion items in our wardrobes, they tell us to “get involved in the community, go to pop-ups and markets, find what you like, meet the creators and get to know what goes on behind your clothes” and well, we can’t argue with that.

And to spread some slow fashion positivity, Liv and Mollie (pictured right) want to give a nod to their friends who run 3am Eternal, “an amazing brand that reimagines vintage pieces in the most beautiful way” they say. “We also love jewellery brand AURUM.Ldn for our real gold hoop fix.” Slow fashion is here to stay and we’re not mad about it with Barbara Bianco treating us Londoners to some socially-conscious and seriously stylish garms. It’s a brand you’re gonna want to keep an eye on and fill your wardrobes with.

Liv and Molly, founders of Barbara Bianco

@barbara_bianco__
barbarabianco.co.uk

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