For the first time in the modern history of major fashion houses, a Black woman will take the helm of Hermès’ menswear line. The appointment of Grace Wales Bonner signals a historic shift in the landscape of contemporary luxury, one that redefines who gets to shape the narrative of heritage and sophistication. Known for her intellectual approach to fashion, Wales Bonner brings with her a vision that merges cultural depth with refined craftsmanship — a perspective that feels both necessary and transformative within the world of high fashion.

Wales Bonner

Trained at Central Saint Martins and of Jamaican and British descent, Wales Bonner has long transcended the boundaries of conventional design. Her collections are not merely garments, but thoughtful meditations on identity, memory, and elegance, weaving together diasporic histories with a modern sense of grace. At #VEINDIGITAL, we revisit the seven collections that have defined her remarkable journey — charting the evolution of one of the most influential and poetic voices of her generation.

1. Afrique, 2014 – The beginning of a new voice

Her graduation collection at Central Saint Martins, titled “Afrique”, was the first manifesto of a singular aesthetic. Through precise tailoring and references to African and Caribbean heritage, Bonner redefined masculinity with a spiritual and poetic sensibility.
That collection earned her the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award, the highest recognition of the prestigious program, and immediately caught the industry’s attention.
Two years later, she received the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designer (2016), confirming that her intellectual, emotional, and deeply personal perspective had found its rightful place in the fashion system.

2. Ebonics, AW 2015 – A ceremony of identity

Presented in January 2015 at Fashion East Men’s during London Collections: Men, Ebonics consolidated the promise of this emerging voice. With this collection, Bonner explored Black identity through an erudite and sensual lens, merging references from the African diaspora with impeccable tailoring.

The garments — embroidered jackets, aged velvets, tunics, and pearl adornments — evoked an elevated, ceremonial masculinity, where cultural heritage became a gesture of contemporary beauty. The intimate, almost mystical presentation confirmed her ability to transform fashion into a space for reflection.

3. Des Hommes et Des Dieux, AW 2018 – Introducing a new dialogue

With Des Hommes et Des Dieux, Wales Bonner expanded her creative universe by introducing womenswear for the first time. More than a rupture, it was a natural evolution — a way to translate her spiritual, tailored language onto the female body without losing coherence or identity.
Inspired by the concept of créolité — the cultural and spiritual hybridity born from the Black Atlantic — the collection explored the connection between the earthly and the divine, between heritage and transcendence.
Peacoats, draped tunics, and silk shirts shaped a serene, introspective, and deeply elegant aesthetic.
Des Hommes et Des Dieux solidified her position as a creator capable of transforming fashion into visual thought, laying the foundation for the dialogue between masculinity and femininity that defines her oeuvre.

4. Black Sunlight, AW 2021 – A jouney toward inner illumination

With this collection, Wales Bonner ventured into spiritual and philosophical territory. Inspired by Caribbean literature and writers such as Aimé Césaire and Kamau Brathwaite, the collection explored inner illumination and ancestral knowledge.
Presented through a short film, it combined the poetic rhythm of words with restrained, precise fashion: tunics, natural fabrics, linen suits, and a sober palette.

Black Sunlight closed a cycle of introspection that began with Lovers Rock (Autumn/Winter 2020 collection), cementing her reputation as a designer who doesn’t just make clothes — she creates ideas.

5. Twilight Reverie, AW 2023 – Elegance as quiet resistance

Twilight Reverie confirmed her aesthetic maturity. Presented in Paris, the collection unfolded in the symbolic heart of the city — between calm and creative exaltation — as an homage to the Black flâneur, a recurring figure in her work: the free wanderer who observes the world through elegance and introspection.

Relaxed silhouettes and noble fabrics oscillated between British classic tailoring and a mystical sensitivity. Double-breasted blazers, wide trousers in ivory or deep black, and coats in bouclé or treated corduroy evoked a quiet sophistication.

Accessories — Ghanaian bead necklaces, pearl brooches, snakeskin boots — introduced a dialogue between craft and divinity.
Beyond the surface, this collection functioned as a meditation on time and identity: a nocturnal journey through cultural memory, between colonial past and urban present. A silent show where elegance becomes resistance.

6. Adidas Originals x Wales Bonner, AW 2023 – Reinventing sportswear through a luxury lens

The collaboration between Wales Bonner and adidas Originals, first launched in 2020, reached a new balance with the AW 2023 collection. Inspired by 1970s sportswear archives and Afro-Caribbean heritage, the designer reinterpreted classics like the Samba and SL72 through a luxury craftsmanship lens.

The result combined nostalgia, culture, and sophistication: knitted tracksuits with metallic finishes, sneakers crafted in premium fabrics, and a warm palette of cocoa brown, cream, and gold. The collection sold out within hours, confirming that the dialogue between sport and intellectual elegance can redefine contemporary desire.

7. Selah, AW 2025 – A pause in feminine contemplation

Her Autumn/Winter 2025 collection, titled Selah — a Hebrew term meaning “pause for reflection” — was her first composed entirely of womenswear. Minimal and meditative, it explored a restrained femininity through pure lines, noble materials, and a serene palette.

Selah marked a creative maturity: the moment when her language, born from masculine tailoring, found its own balance on the female form. With this collection, Wales Bonner reaffirmed her ability to evolve without losing her essence.

The appointment of Grace Wales Bonner as the new creative director of Hermès menswear is not a rupture, but the natural consequence of a coherent, grounded trajectory. Her vision of classicism — intellectual, multicultural, and deeply emotional — aligns with the maison’s heritage while opening it to a new dialogue with the present.

With Bonner, Hermès writes a new chapter that unites the tradition of tailoring with a diverse, contemporary, and sensitive perspective — a new way of understanding luxury: a house that breathes the present while preserving the essence of the eternal.

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