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London-based designer Grace Wales Bonner, founder of luxury label Wales Bonner, is the winner of the 2023 BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund, the British Fashion Council (BFC) announced on Wednesday.
The designer, who “infuses European heritage with an Afro-Atlantic spirit”, the BFC says, will receive a 12-month bespoke business mentoring programme, pro-bono legal services from media and technology law firm Sheridans and a cash prize of £100,000.
“It is an honour to present this year’s BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund to Grace Wales Bonner, an electrifying talent with a razor-sharp vision,” says Adam Baidawi, head of editorial content at British GQ and deputy global editorial director of GQ. “Grace is rearchitecting the very notion of what a luxury fashion house is — and who luxury is for. She is the total embodiment of modern creativity: ambitious, collaborative and global.” GQ previously honoured Grace at its Global Creativity Awards earlier this year, and Baidawi says he’s “proud” to celebrate her again.
The BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund (previously the Designer Menswear Fund) was launched in 2013 to help support UK-based menswear talent, following the launch of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund in 2011, geared toward womenswear designers. Previous BFC/GQ winners include Nicholas Daley (2022), Ahluwalia (2021), A-Cold-Wall* (2019), Craig Green (2016), E Tautz (2015) and Christopher Shannon (2014).
Other finalists this year were AGR, Bianca Saunders, paria/FARZANEH and jewellery designer Bleue Burnham, all of which launched within the last five years.
Wales Bonner has taken home many prizes over the years, including the LVMH Young Designer Prize (2016), the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (2019) and the CFDA’s International Men’s Designer of the Year (2021). In early 2022, she was declared a master of the British Empire (MBE). And at the end of 2022, she won the British Fashion Council’s Independent British Brand Award. She was also rumoured as one of the frontrunners to succeed Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton before the brand hired Pharrell Williams in February.
The designer launched her eponymous label in 2014, and is now stocked across the world in stores including Selfridges, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Printemps, Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter and Dover Street Market International. The designer, who is of British-Jamaican heritage, produces modern silhouettes steeped in pan-African culture. Trousers from her latest collection are crafted from hand-sewn strips of vintage indigo-dyed natural cotton gathered from markets in Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso. A signature embellished jacket from the same collection is inspired by the form of the West African instrument, the kora. Her jewellery is handmade in Ghana from recycled materials. The brand remains independent and entirely self-funded, which can pose challenges when trying to scale from emerging brand to mid-size label, requiring external support.
“I am very grateful to have been awarded the BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund; it is a great affirmation for myself and my team as we continue on our journey,” Wales Bonner says. “Receiving this kind of support is very meaningful to us as an independent brand. As ever, I would like to say a special thank you to all of our supporters and collaborators.”
Wales Bonner’s priority for 2023 is “elevation”, the designer told Vogue Business at the end of last year. She launched new categories like footwear and jewellery for Spring/Summer 2023 to scale the brand’s offering. Its biggest market is the US, where her long-term, sellout collaboration with Adidas has bolstered brand awareness. Versions of the Wales Bonner x Adidas Samba sneaker are trading for up to $900 on resale platforms like The Edit LDN and StockX, way above retail value of $130. The shoes are much-discussed on social media and have been subject to memes from top US menswear podcast Throwing Fits.
“[Grace’s] intellectual approach to design has resulted in multiple collaborations across the creative space, exploring music with Kendrick Lamar, art with Lubaina Himid, and sportswear with Adidas, demonstrating the brand’s clear ability to resonate with consumers and achieve commercial success,” says Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council. “We are delighted to announce the brilliant Grace as this year’s winner of the BFC/GQ Designer Fashion Fund. Her brand stands out for having created a space for a cultural conversation that inspires future generations.”
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