If you aren’t familiar with SSENSE, it’s the online epicenter for buying luxury brands and high-end streetwear. Founded by the three Atallah brothers, the goal was to take away the obstacles and headaches that could arise from purchasing high-end fashion and democratize the latest, coolest brands.
More than any other platform right now, SSENSE does curation right. They’re painfully aware of which pieces from new collections are a fit for their audience. They show you what’s relevant and hot right now — prioritizing pieces you’ll genuinely like rather than what’s just being pushed by the brand. Now, SSENSE carries brands of all price points from Adidas to Versace.
Another highlight: SSENSE is known for its brand diversity. They often highlight Black-owned brands and showcase collections from people of color and lesser-known designers. To close out Black History Month 2024, SSENSE is teaming up with none other than ESSENCE: a pairing that makes perfect sense.
ESSENCE, the lifestyle publication geared towards Black women, is helping feature three designers and artists: Bianca Saunders, Mowalola, and Stanley Raffington. The series will showcase their designs and tell their story.
According to SSENSE’s site,
“The two brands are turning ESSENCE’s “In The Studio” print franchise into a video series hosted by Lynette Nylander. The series will spotlight the achievements and creativity of Black designers who have significantly impacted the menswear realm. With three episodes, each featuring a distinguished designer, the series offers exclusive insights into their creative processes and journey,”
Meet The SSENSE X ESSENCE Feature Designers
Bianca Saunders
Bianca Saunders
British GQ
Bianca Saunders’ clothing embraces masculinity in womenswear. Her jackets will always be a bit oversized, or the style will mimic a classic streetwear bomber that could have been borrowed from boys like Jeremy Allen-White and Jacob Elordi — a girl can dream.
“The essence of Saunders' clothing lives in the details, which point to how she subverts ideals often associated with menswear.”
Finding the intersectionality between workwear and streetwear, Saunders clothing is genderless and trendy. Some of her signatures include layered shirts, tucked waists, and somewhat minimalist designs.
@babyboyflame Buying Black: @Bianca Saunders #streetwear #menswear #blackownedbusiness #fashion #fashiontok #fashiontiktok ♬ Oldschool - Cookin Soul
Mowalola
Mowalola
Joyce NG
Mowalola, a highly sought after designer whose pieces have been worn by the likes of Rihanna and Naomi Campbell, is a bit of an icon in the fashion world. Her mantra for fashion is “do what you want to do” and that’s exactly the kind of energy Mowalola’s clothes give off.
Much like Bianca Saunders, Mowalola is known for her gender bending designs. Inspired by cinema, many of her collections revolve around movies. And this is on full display at her cinematic runway shows.
She brings an edge to her designs through textures like leather and intentionally placed cutouts. She’s not afraid to make public commentary on race and gender, making her runway shows incredibly popular.
“The British designer has shifted the cultural zeitgeist with her boundary-pushing collections inspired by the world around her.”
@i_d Replying to @JAC So are we! #ferragamo #maximiliandavis #tiktokfashion #mfw #mowalola ♬ original sound - i-D
Stanley Raffington
Stanley Raffington
ESSENCE
In a world where the Chanel black-and-white aesthetic hails ever-popular, especially amongst those emulating Old Money Style and Sofia Richie’s closet, it’s hard to find designers who aren’t afraid of a bit of color…enter Stanley Raffington.
Often incorporating Rastafarian colors of red, yellow, and black as an ode to his Jamaican roots, Raffington isn’t going to shy away from any hue. He quickly rose into fashion prominency when Madonna and FKA Twigs attended his show, which included 3D printed accessories.
Constantly inspired by his Jamaican roots and the nostalgia of past trends, you will see lots of Y2K nods in Stanley Raffington’s clothing. He’s embraced tech in the fashion world by utilizing 3D printing in many of his designs and runway shows, and he’s not slowing down now.
@yungstanz Process behind my 3d printed curve bag. Taking inspiration from the architecture of Zaha Hadid, mixing new technology with natural materials and craft. Available now exclusively at @SSENSE ♬ Never Lose Me - Flo Milli
The History Of The Bechdel Test, And What It's Actually Measuring
The lesbian experience can be isolating. Comic artist and lesbian, Alison Bechdel began publishing her comic strips in gay and lesbian magazines and newspapers starting in 1983.
Dykes to Watch Out For followed the lives of a cast of mostly queer characters, their friendships, and a mix of “high and low culture - from foreign policy to domestic routine, hot sex to postmodern theory.”
Along with the 2006 bestselling graphic novel, Fun Home - which inspired the Tony-award-winning play of the same name - Bechdel’s most famous work is her comic, The Rule. The strip debuted in 1985, depicting a fictionalized conversation with her friend, Liz Wallace.This became known as The Bechdel Test.
A movie:
- Has to have at least two women in it who
- Talk to each other about
- Something else besides a man
One character reveals that the last movie that satisfied these requirements was Alien, which premiered 6 years earlier.
The term gained popularity in the 2010’s, with a major peak in November 2017, when it was revealed that for the first time, a majority of television programs were satisfying the rules of the test.
Regarding the comic's fame, Bechdel said, “Somehow young feminist film students found this old cartoon and resurrected it in the Internet era and now it’s this weird thing…People actually use it to analyze films to see whether or not they pass that test. Still . . . surprisingly few films actually pass it.”
It’s become a shorthand over time to define if a film is “feminist” or not. But that’s not what Bechdel was intending.
The Bechdel-Wallace test gauges female representation rather than any specific female interpretation.
Bechdel and Wallace just wanted to see some women onscreen who have inner lives!
The lesbian experience can be isolating. It’s not asking too much for blockbuster films to feature female characters whose every frame doesn’t revolve around men. Using the test to define whether a film is feminist or not isn’t fair to feminism, the movie industry, or Alison Bechdel. If a movie passes the test, it can still be a misogynist wreck. And there are plenty of films with explicit feminist messages that don’t necessarily satisfy the rules.
Still, it’s wild how low the bar is, and how few films will pass the test. Particularly now, since the test is a widely known part of popular culture. And it can be resolved with just a brief conversation. A quick glance at 2022’s films have about half passing the test.
Other tests have popped up in its honor, like the Duvernay test intending to measure racial diversity. There’s the Mako Mori test, inspired by a character in Pacific Rim. Although her actions fail to pass the Bechdel test, Mako has a satisfying narrative arc. Finally, there was the Fire Island controversy, where a white woman called out the film for failing to pass the Bechel Test; an unfair callout for a cast of queer Asian characters, who are underrepresented in Hollywood.
Bechdel herself chimed in.
Okay, I just added a corollary to the Bechdel test: Two men talking to each other about the female protagonist of an Alice Munro story in a screenplay structured on a Jane Austen novel = pass. #FireIsland #BechdelTest
— Alison Bechdel (@AlisonBechdel) June 8, 2022
And as more women and people of color get cast in active, engaging, and inclusive roles, these tests will keep evolving. Our films and series must strive for diversity in terms of race, gender, and LGBTQ+ stories. Because we deserve original stories, true to all walks of life.