Grace Wales Bonner took long-distance runners, in particular the Ethiopian marathon champ Haile Gebrselassie, as her inspiration this season. While she may not be winning worldwide marathons, she certainly knows about going the distance in fashion.
“I was thinking about parallels with my own journey. I’m playing the long game, one that takes practice — and repetition,” the designer said shortly before she presented her collection in the courtyard of the Paris Mint.
Wales Bonner’s practice has been paying off, and the business is gaining steam.
She was Pitti Uomo’s special guest designer last June and, earlier this month, she scooped the British Fashion Council/GQ Designer Fashion Fund for menswear, which comes with a cash prize of 100,000 pounds, a 12-month business mentoring program, and pro-bono legal services.
She’s earmarked the money to launch leather goods, which will add to her bigger, broader apparel offer, and new footwear, jewelry and accessories collections.
For spring, Wales Bonner didn’t miss a beat, drawing on sport, tailoring and artisanal handwork for this elegant coed collection that unfurled to live performances by musicians from Ethiopia, Kenya, the Republic of Niger and West Africa.
Tailoring, which Wales Bonner does in collaboration with London’s Anderson & Sheppard, stole the show.
Looks ranged from a raw-edged, navy topcoat with contrasting white lapels and a red velvet collar, to a snazzy denim suit with a zigzag tuxedo stripe, to a white jacket edged with tiny handmade gold beads.
She paired those looks with bright Adidas trainers. One yellow style was drawn from the brand’s archive and autographed by Gebreselassie, who won the Berlin marathon in 2008.
That delicate, pearly beading spilled onto little baby blue skirts with scalloped edges, track shorts and even colored chokers which models wore with contrasting black jackets.
Wales Bonner treated knitwear with a light touch, too, sending out fuzzy tank tops with track suit bottoms and shorts with a geometric 1970s print that was full of dynamism, just like the designer herself.
Source: WWD