Grace Wales Bonner

Grace Wales Bonner has carved a path that’s all her own, navigating fashion with an artful blend of cultures and influences. Born in South East London to a Jamaican father and English mother, Wales Bonner founded her eponymous brand in 2014 shortly after graduating from Central Saint Martins. Since then, she’s risen as one of fashion’s most compelling storytellers, using clothing as a medium to explore themes of identity, heritage, and the Afro-Atlantic experience. Her work threads together craftsmanship, cultural inquiry, and a soulful elegance, earning her recognition from the likes of the British Fashion Council, LVMH, and CFDA.

What started as a menswear label has evolved into something much broader. Her collections, which are equally informed by academic research and street culture, blur the boundaries between menswear and womenswear. Wales Bonner’s talent for storytelling through fabric and silhouette caught the industry’s attention early on—winning the LVMH Prize in 2016 and the Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards in 2015. Today, her collections are stocked by major names such as Dover Street Market, Net-a-Porter, and Bergdorf Goodman, reflecting her growing global influence.

Wales Bonner’s approach has always been about more than just the clothes. She’s curated exhibitions like “A Time For New Dreams” at London’s Serpentine Galleries, and recently “Spirit Movers” at MoMA in 2023, showcasing her deep engagement with art, culture, and history. Whether through her Adidas Originals collaborations or a recent partnership with Dior, her work proposes a distinct kind of luxury—one that feels rooted, conscious, and resonant. Right now, she’s channeling her vision into a four-year research project at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, digging deeper into the cultural critiques that drive her collections.

Grace Wales Bonner is a designer who understands the importance of dialogue—between different histories, identities, and forms of expression. With every collection, she’s not just making clothes; she’s making connections, bridging the gap between European heritage and an Afro-Atlantic spirit that’s as global as it is deeply personal.