Career
Grace Wales Bonner's debut collection, "Ebonics", was presented in 2015 at Fashion East in London. She presented two runway shows the following year, Malik and Spirituals, after which she was awarded the prestigious LVMH prize. [13] [14]
Wales Bonner continued to show her collections in London, until she was invited as guest designer of Pitti Uomo Festival in Florence, Italy, for the presentation of the brand's Spring Summer 2023 collection. [15] Since its Autumn Winter 2023 show, Wales Bonner has exhibited shows on the Paris Fashion Week Men’s Calendar. [16]
In 2019, she curated her debut show, A Time For New Dreams, at the Serpentine Gallery, [17] 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". [18] It was described as "a bringing together of multiple interdisciplinary creative practices: music, fashion, art and design". [19] The exhibition, which attracted 25,000 visitors, took its name from a collection of essays by Nigerian writer Ben Okri, and included work by several artists (including Chino Amobi, the Black Audio Film Collective, David Hammons, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Liz Johnson Artur, Rashid Johnson, Kapwani Kiwanga, Eric N. Mack and Paul Mpagi Sepuya), [17] [20] featuring Okri's words on the wall, as well as footage of African-American writer Ishmael Reed. [21] At the show's opening, Reed performed on piano and Okri recited a poem written for the occasion. [22] According to Hans-Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery: "Grace is a fashion designer, but she's also a thinker, a writer, and an editor. She makes connections between different fields, from music to art." [21] In acknowledgement of the influence of Reed's satirical novel Mumbo Jumbo , Wales Bonner borrowed its title as the name for her Autumn Winter 2019 collection. [23] [24]
Following the opening of A Time for New Dreams at Serpentine Galleries, Wales Bonner presented a musical series titled Devotional Sound. Performers at the London event included Sampha, Laraaji, and Klein. [25] The series was continued in New York in a set of performances at St. Peter's Church from Solange, Standing on the Corner, and Laraaji. [26]
In that same year, Wales Bonner was invited by Maria Grazia Chiuri to collaborate with Dior to re-interpret the house's New Look silhouette for its Resort 2020 collection. [1] The following year, in 2020, Wales Bonner was recognised as one of the United Kingdom's most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage by being included in the 2021 edition of the annual Powerlist . [27]
Wales Bonner has collaborated with sportswear brand Adidas on seasonal collections as well as official kits for the Jamaican Football Federation. [28] [29] In 2022, she collaborated with renowned American artist Kerry James Marshall on a limited-edition T-shirt. [30] Since 2020, Wales Bonner and Adidas have collaborated on 25 sold-out sneakers. [31]
Wales Bonner was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to fashion. [32]
In 2023, Wales Bonner curated an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art New York, titled Spirit Movers, as part of the museum’s Artist’s Choice series. The exhibition consisted of nearly 40 artworks from the museum's collection that explore sound, movement, performance, and style in the African diaspora and beyond. [33] It was accompanied by the artist’s book "Dream in the Rhythm: Visions of Sound and Spirit in the MoMA collection". [34]
Wales Bonner served on the host committee of the 2025 MET Gala in New York, and created bespoke looks for guests Lewis Hamilton, FKA Twigs, Omar Appolo, Jeff Goldblum, Tyler Mitchell, Monica L. Milller, and Eric N. Mack. [35] Her work was also included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Summer Exhibition, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. [36] A look from the Wales Bonner Spring Summer 2017 Show, Ezekiel, was featured on the cover of the exhibition's catalogue photographed by Tyler Mitchell. [37]
Wales Bonner's work in music continued with the event series Togetherness, presented in Paris in 2024 and New York in 2025, with performers including Fireboy DML, E’tran de l’Aïr, Amaarae, La Fève, KeiyaA, Navy Blue, The Cavemen, The Joy, Mansur Brown, Sir Rashad Ringo Smith, and others. [38] [39]
