Grace Wales Bonner in London, 2023. BAFIC/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX/REA
Grace Wales Bonner is the new woman tasked with dressing men at Hermès: The French house announced her appointment as creative director of men's ready-to-wear in a statement released at midday on Tuesday, October 21. The thirty-something British designer of Jamaican descent has had a seamless rise. She launched her eponymous menswear label in 2014 and expanded it to include womenswear in 2018. Her label has earned critical acclaim and commercial success, notably through her long-running, always sold-out collaboration with Adidas.
A graduate of Central Saint Martins College, London's renowned art and fashion school, Wales Bonner made her name with refined ready-to-wear deeply rooted in artistic and intellectual references to the African diaspora, from James Baldwin and Aimé Césaire to Kerry James Marshall. Her work champions a hybrid form of fashion, conscious of the imagery and messages it conveys. "Fashion is a very direct means of communication that allows complex ideas to be expressed. You can understand a lot just by looking at it," the designer said in a 2024 profile in M Le Magazine du Monde.
"Her take on contemporary fashion, craft and culture will contribute to shaping Hermès men's style, melding the house's heritage with a confident look on the now," wrote Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the artistic director of Hermès, in the statement confirming her appointment. Over 10 years at the helm of her brand, Wales Bonner demonstrated the breadth of her creative vocabulary, moving from impeccably tailored, vintage-inspired suits to versatile sportswear, from leather loafers and sandals to poetic, talismanic jewelry.
