GRACE WALES BONNER
The Freshest Designer In Fashion
Grace Wales Bonner has been taking the fashion world by storm, and she’s been taking the tracksuit to new high-fashion heights while she’s at it.
Bonner started her label Wales Bonner in 2015, and ever since, she’s been bringing a delicate approach to menswear that we really haven’t seen anywhere else. Her designs are known for their sophistication, demure & molded shapes, and emphasis on handicraft and tradition. It seems like just yesterday that all the fashion bigwigs were asking themselves back in March of last year: In this new pandemic fashion landscape, how much do we really dive in and get critical about what exactly we want our brand to say? Whereas most brands went right back to doing more of the same, it’s been refreshing to see Bonner’s label stay true to its core values time and time again.
Her most recent collection is certainly no exception, either. Introduced at Paris Fashion Week (a first for the label), the collection was debuted via a video titled “Essence,” which dove headfirst into house codes. The end result was a master class in doing more with less, and that is precisely why the collection has been so successful. Bonner put her money where her mouth is, and it paid off. In addition to the plethora of brand iconography, Bonner also found inspiration in Jamaican men’s fashion from the 70s and 80s. It’s in these sleek silhouettes that we see Bonner continue to take the idea of a tracksuit to new heights (something she’s become known for), and into the realm of the tailored suit.
Not only has Bonner seen a meteoric rise in her own right, she’s also contributed designs for none other than the house of Dior. For the label’s Resort 2020 runway show (yes, the amazing Marrakech collection), Bonner was asked to collaborate on one of the looks. The result was Look 21 – a Bar jacket and coordinating New Look skirt (two of Dior’s most game-changing creations in the 40s) that displayed a perfect hybrid of Dior’s Marrakech theme and Bonner’s signature slenderized silhouettes and celebration of craftsmanship. The collaboration has proven to be a fruitful one – Dior collaborated with the right talent at the right time, and Bonner gets a much-deserved audience boost.
Definitely put Grace Wales Bonner on your fashion radar if you haven’t already. She’s doing things with menswear that we don’t normally see, which is unusual in a world of such sartorial limits. Yet at the same time, she steadfastly stays true to who she is as a designer, and to what Wales Bonner is as a brand. Bonner’s marriage of forward-thinking and past-honoring is an exciting one, and it’s one we hope has an influence on male beauty for years to come.
