It’s rare to see the fashion community come together with such a united opinion – and even more so when that opinion is resoundingly positive.
Aside from Duran Lantink’s largely detested Jean Paul Gaultier collaboration, the mood throughout show season had felt tense. Last month’s fashion weeks were defined by critics calling each other out for being too soft, too savage, too online, too beholden. Older journalists accused the new generation of snarky digital commentators of being “too fast to cancel”, while Gen-Z voices argued that the old guard remain too neatly tucked in the pockets of their luxury advertisers to offer real critique.
This all changed on Tuesday, when Grace Wales Bonner was announced as the new creative director of Hermès menswear – a move that not only stunned the industry, but unified it in celebration. This appointment makes her the first woman of colour to lead design at a major fashion house in history. In 2025, that’s an uncomfortable milestone to hit for the first time, which makes this moment all the more poignant and powerful.
Within minutes of the announcement, the internet transformed into a rare collective outpouring of joy. Designers, stylists, editors and fans flooded timelines with heartfelt tributes and archive photos, sharing memories of Wales Bonner’s early years on the London circuit. Scottish designer Charles Jeffrey shared a throwback photo of himself with Wales Bonner as fellow Fashion East alum back in 2015, while fashion blogger and critic Susie Bubble posted backstage snaps from past interviews as well as from Wales Bonner’s 2019 Serpentine Gallery exhibition, writing: “So many appointments and changes, but cannot NOT comment on how JOYFUL and JUST it is that Grace Wales Bonner has been announced as the new creative director of Hermès menswear.”
She continued: “A decision that is both brilliant, much deserved and a long-awaited milestone for a Black woman to helm a luxury house. But I think what I’m most excited about is the cultural synergy that will come about between Wales-Bonner and Hermès. Few designers have the ability that Wales-Bonner has in terms of connecting all the dots between art, literature, history and cultural studies, realms that Hermès sits adjacent to.”
Since launching her namesake label straight out of Central Saint Martins in 2014, Wales Bonner has built an aesthetic merging academic research, meticulous tailoring, and a deep dialogue with the Black diaspora. Her debut collection, “Ebonics,” combined flared trousers and shawl-collar jackets with literary references from James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison. That balance of scholarly yet soulful design has become her signature.
Her expertise lies as much in cultural curation as it does in design – in the last decade, she’s collaborated with Adidas to revive classic silhouettes like the Samba, turning it from a vintage afterthought into a global must-have. She’s reimagined Dior’s Bar jacket through the lens of hand-crafted macramé, dressed Lewis Hamilton for the Met Gala, and curated an exhibition at MoMA exploring the Black Atlantic through art and sound.
Following the announcement, a resurfaced quote from a 2018 System magazine interview quickly went viral. “I am interested in the idea of an institution and fashion having parameters,” she said at the time. “A house with heritage is interesting to me, because I am interested in a framework and then disrupting elements of classicism within that. A dream of mine would be to work with a tailoring brand, as that is at the core of what I am doing.” When asked which brand she had in mind, she mused: “Maybe a brand like Hermès, or even a Savile Row tailoring house.”
Six years later, that dream is a reality, making this union between designer and maison feel almost karmic. It’s not only a recognition of Wales Bonner’s generational talent – the same talent that’s earned her the Emerging Menswear Designer award at the British Fashion Awards, the LVMH Young Designer Prize, and an MBE – but also a reflection of a broader industry reckoning. Who gets to lead luxury’s most powerful houses? Who is seen as the guardian of “heritage”?
Over the last three years, fashion has seen a dizzying game of musical chairs. In 2025 alone, no fewer than twelve creative directors have stepped into new roles across the upper echelon of luxury brands. Each appointment has reignited the same debate: about diversity, representation, and the industry’s continued fixation on familiar (read: white, male) names.
Both Grace Wales Bonner and fellow Black British designer Martine Rose have long topped fashion’s speculative shortlists whenever a major role has opened up, and both have been repeatedly passed over. Fashion editors and fans alike began to wonder aloud why the two most influential British designers of their generation – women who have shaped the aesthetics of global menswear – were not being given the reins of power, and the significant financial backing that comes with it.
New York-based stylist Amanda Murray voiced what many were feeling on her Instagram story: “I keep tabs on Grace and Martine because I love them and want them to win. Hearing about Grace interviewing for multiple CD jobs and not landing them has quietly broken my heart, but the divine alignment of this moment feels like a reminder – everything unfolds as it should.”
Sarah Mower, Chief Critic for Vogue Runway, reposted a snippet of her review from last season’s menswear collections: “Exactly why such demonstrably influential – and commercially sharp – women such as Grace Wales Bonner and her elder British counterpart Martine Rose have not yet been hired by a house or a brand is less a mystery than a total disgrace in the industry.” On Instagram, she added simply: “I said what I said.”
This appointment doesn’t exist in isolation. The last decade has seen a wave of extraordinary Black British designers reshape the conversation – Bianca Saunders, Priya Ahluwalia, Mowalola, Torishéju Dumi and Tolu Coker among them. In the US, Rachel Scott’s work at Diotima has captured similar attention for its fusion of Caribbean craftsmanship and contemporary elegance. When British Vogue’s January 2024 issue, Sustainability Trailblazers, featured Ahluwalia, Dumi and Coker on its cover, it felt like progress – but it also underscored how long overdue recognition for women like Wales Bonner and Rose really was. Menswear, after all, remains even more of a boys’ club than womenswear (if that’s even possible to imagine).
As for what we can expect from Wales Bonner at Hermès, if her decade-long track record is any indication, she will likely bring a new cultural depth to Hermès, merging her poetic storytelling and cultural resonance with the house’s historic artisans. Expect a dialogue between British intellect and French heritage, and between modern Black identity and old-world luxury.
With her first Hermès menswear collection scheduled for January 2027, Wales Bonner has nearly two years to settle into her role. The lead time also reflects a rare moment of trust from Hermès, giving Wales Bonner the space to fully imprint her vision; a signal that the industry is finally recognising the breadth of her talent. Until then, anticipation remains high – and we can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.
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