Interviews
V&A's Fashion in Motion to highlight Grace Wales Bonner
06 Apr '15
2 min read
London’s famous decorative arts and design landmark Victoria and Albert Museum (V & A Museum) has picked up the young British menswear designer Grace Wales Bonner as subject of its forthcoming instalment of Fashion in Motion, a series of fashion-centric live events staged before a wider number of audiences as compared to a traditional catwalk parade’s limited attendance.
Opening from April 10, 2015, the event will showcase four presentations featuring major highlights from the Central Saint Martins’ grad’s numerous collections, which have been inspired by African crafts, black visual culture and mix couture techniques, to date.
“Grace Wales Bonner is an exciting new talent in menswear design and we’re delighted to be able to present her pieces to V&A audiences. Her designs are not only beautifully crafted but also conceived from important concepts and themes,” Oriole Cullen, the fashion series’ curator, said while commenting on the designer in a media statement.
Expressing her delight on being chosen as the event’s subject, the designer reveals, “The V&A feels like the perfect space to present the hybridism in cultural representation, which I aim to explore through my work. I am really excited about opening up the conversation to a wider audience through Fashion in Motion and honoured to be part of the programme.”
The innovative installation ‘Fashion in Motion: Grace Wales Bonner’ will aim to not only offer an up and close view of the striking ensembles from the English and Jamaican-born designer but also a sneak peek into her sources of inspiration.
Bonner’s designs explore cross cultural hybridism, masculinity and notions of European and African luxury fashion. She cites artists who explore black identity through their work as inspirations, including painter Kerry James Marshall and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. Her SS15 graduate collection Afrique explored Coco Chanel via Lagos and won the L'Oreal Professionnel Designer of the Year Award. The AW15 collection Ebonics was included within Fashion East’s London Collections: Men programme, known for highlighting London’s future design talent. Inspired by exoticism and 19th-century depictions of black men, the collection featured crushed velvet embellished with cowry shells and Swarovski crystals, high-waist flares, jewelled skull caps and intricate neckpieces. (PB)
Opening from April 10, 2015, the event will showcase four presentations featuring major highlights from the Central Saint Martins’ grad’s numerous collections, which have been inspired by African crafts, black visual culture and mix couture techniques, to date.
“Grace Wales Bonner is an exciting new talent in menswear design and we’re delighted to be able to present her pieces to V&A audiences. Her designs are not only beautifully crafted but also conceived from important concepts and themes,” Oriole Cullen, the fashion series’ curator, said while commenting on the designer in a media statement.
Expressing her delight on being chosen as the event’s subject, the designer reveals, “The V&A feels like the perfect space to present the hybridism in cultural representation, which I aim to explore through my work. I am really excited about opening up the conversation to a wider audience through Fashion in Motion and honoured to be part of the programme.”
The innovative installation ‘Fashion in Motion: Grace Wales Bonner’ will aim to not only offer an up and close view of the striking ensembles from the English and Jamaican-born designer but also a sneak peek into her sources of inspiration.
Bonner’s designs explore cross cultural hybridism, masculinity and notions of European and African luxury fashion. She cites artists who explore black identity through their work as inspirations, including painter Kerry James Marshall and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. Her SS15 graduate collection Afrique explored Coco Chanel via Lagos and won the L'Oreal Professionnel Designer of the Year Award. The AW15 collection Ebonics was included within Fashion East’s London Collections: Men programme, known for highlighting London’s future design talent. Inspired by exoticism and 19th-century depictions of black men, the collection featured crushed velvet embellished with cowry shells and Swarovski crystals, high-waist flares, jewelled skull caps and intricate neckpieces. (PB)
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