Grace Wales Bonner (born 1990) is an English fashion designer, whose work "proposes a distinct notion of cultural luxury that infuses European heritage with an Afro Atlantic spirit"."About".
Wales Bonner website. Her designs are characterized by a blend of sportswear and tailoring, as well as her interest in infusing everyday wardrobe essentials with a refined elegance. In 2014, she founded the London-based label Wales Bonner, originally specializing in menswear. Since founding her eponymous brand, Wales Bonner has received numerous awards including Emerging Menswear Designer at the

British Fashion Awards The Fashion Awards, known as the British Fashion Awards until 2016, is an annual ceremony established in the United Kingdom in 1989 to showcase both British and international individuals and businesses who have made the most outstanding contribu ...

(2015), the LVMH Young Designer Prize (2016), Winner of the

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

/ Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (2019) and CFDA International Men's Designer of the Year (2021), and in

June 2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

she was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for services to fashion. Wales Bonner currently serves as the Head of the Department of Fashion Design at the

University of Applied Arts, Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an Art school, arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had uni ...

Biography

She was born in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

to a white English mother and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n father, and after her parents' separation was brought up between her mother's house in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...

and her father's in

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

. Wales Bonner studied at

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

art school, graduating in 2014, and winning the L'Oréal Professionnel Talent award for her BA collection "Afrique". Subsequent awards she has received include the "Emerging Talent – Menswear" at the 2015

, the 2016

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

Prize for Young Fashion Designers, the

/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (2019), the CFDA International Men's Designer of the Year (2021), and in 2023 the British Fashion Council/GQ Designer Fashion Fund. In 2019, she curated her debut show, ''A Time For New Dreams'', for the

Serpentine Sackler Gallery Serpentine may refer to: Shapes * Serpentine shape, a shape resembling a serpent * Serpentine curve, a mathematical curve * Serpentine, a type of riding figure Science and nature * Serpentine subgroup, a group of minerals * Serpentinite, a ...

, which was an exploration of magical resonances within black cultural and aesthetic practices, and focused on the shrine "as a symbolic pathway for imagining different worlds and possibilities". The exhibition, which attracted 25,000 visitors, took its name from a collection of essays by Nigerian writer

Ben Okri Ben Okri (born 15 March 1959) is a Nigerian-British poet and novelist.Ben Okri"
British Council, ...

, and included work by several artists (including

Chino Amobi Chinonyeelu Uchechi Amobi (born 1984), known professionally as Chino Amobi, is an American experimental electronic musician, contemporary artist and director. He is also co-founder of the independent record label NON Worldwide. He has worked in th ...

, the

Black Audio Film Collective The Black Audio Film Collective (BAFC), founded in 1982 and active until 1998, comprised seven Black British and diaspora multimedia artists and film makers: John Akomfrah, Lina Gopaul, Avril Johnson, Reece Auguiste, Trevor Mathison, Edward Geo ...

David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...

, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Liz Johnson Artur,

Rashid Johnson Rashid Johnson (born 1977) is an American artist who produces conceptual post-black art. Johnson first received critical attention in 2001 at the age of 24, when his work was included in '' Freestyle'' (2001) curated by Thelma Golden at the St ...

Kapwani Kiwanga Kapwani Kiwanga (born 1978) is a Canadian artist working in Paris, France. In 2018, she was named the inaugural winner of the Frieze Artist Award. Early life and education Kiwanga was born in 1978 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and grew up there ...

, Eric N. Mack and

Paul Mpagi Sepuya Paul Mpagi Sepuya (born 1982) is an American photographer and artist. His photographs focus heavily on the relationship between artist and subject. He often explores the nude in relation to the intimacy of studio photography. The foundation of Sepu ...

), featuring Okri's words on the wall, as well as footage of African-American writer

Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is '' M ...

. At the show's opening, Reed performed and Okri recited a poem written for the occasion. According to

Hans-Ulrich Obrist Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...

, artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery: "Grace is a fashion designer, but she's also a thinker, a writer, an editor. She makes connections between different fields, from music to art." In that same year, Grace was invited by

Maria Grazia Chiuri Maria Grazia Chiuri (; born February 2, 1964) is an Italian fashion designer. After stints working at Fendi and Valentino, Chiuri was named creative director at Dior. Biography Her maternal grandfather died during the Second World War, leaving he ...

to collaborate with Dior to re-interpret the house's New Look silhouette for its Resort 2020 collection. The following year, in 2020, Wales Bonner was recognized as one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage by being included in the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

edition of the annual ''

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

''. Wales Bonner has collaborated with sportswear brand

adidas Originals Adidas Originals (often stylized as adidas Originals) is a brand of a line of casual and sportswear created by German multinational corporation Adidas. It consists of a heritage line, specializing in athletic shoes, t-shirts, jackets, bags, sun ...

on a number of occasions, producing seasonal offerings that update and refine archival silhouettes. In 2022, she collaborated with renowned American artist

Kerry James Marshall Kerry James Marshall (born October 17, 1955) is an American artist and professor, known for his paintings of Black figures. He previously taught painting at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2017, Marshall ...

on a limited-edition T-shirt. Wales Bonner was appointed

(MBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as par ...

for services to fashion.

Awards

* 2015: Emerging Menswear Designer at the

* 2016: LVMH Young Designer Prize * 2019: Winner of the

/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund * 2021: CFDA International Men's Designer of the Year *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

: appointed

(MBE) * 2023: British Fashion Council/GQ Designer Fashion Fund Winner

References

External links

* * Samuel Hine
"Grace Wales Bonner’s vision of Black elegance is changing fashion"
''GQ'', 11 April 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wales Bonner, Grace 1990 births Living people Alumni of Central Saint Martins Black British fashion people British women fashion designers English fashion designers English people of Jamaican descent Members of the Order of the British Empire