The 25-year-old star of London men's wear whose collections explore black culture and identity won LVMH 2016 prize for emerging artist.
Grace Wales Bonner graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2014. Her graduate collection Afrique won the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award, her dissertation Black on Black achieved the Dean’s personal commendation. Wales Bonner debuted Ebonics A/W 15 with Fashion East at London Collections: Men to critical acclaim. After her first season, she was invited to the V&A’s prestigious Fashion in Motion programme. Her work explores representations of black male sexuality and identity. Informed by broad research which encompasses critical theory, composition, literature, and historical sources, Wales Bonner attempts to explore the notion of luxury via a hybrid of European and African approaches.
In 2015 Wales Bonner was awarded Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards. She also performed in the Serpentine Marathon curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and realised the first two volumes of her bi-annual publication Everythings for Real with Ditto Press. Wales Bonner designs contemporary menswear and womenswear to international stockists including Matches, LNCC, Joyce, SSense and 10 Corso Como.
Ms. Wales Bonner will receive a grant of 300,000 anda year of coaching andfrom LVMH executives, the French luxury group announced Thursday at a ceremony at the Louis Vuitton Foundation art museum in Paris.
The Canadian poet and novelist who abandoned a promising literary career to become one of the foremost songwriters of the contemporary era has died.