‘It’s About a Purity of Expression’: Grace Wales Bonner on Bringing Her ‘Togetherness’ Music Event to the Guggenheim
This year’s Met Gala doesn’t officially kick off until Monday, but that hasn’t stopped a deluge of events across New York City in the lead-up to the event. And the hottest ticket in town this weekend? That would be Grace Wales Bonner’s Togetherness music event at the Guggenheim, where a lineup of artist hand-picked by the designer performed in the iconic spiral atrium with the backdrop of Rashid Johnson’s “A Poem for Deep Thinkers,” the artist’s largest exhibition to date.
“I’ve been working on this concept for quite a long time, so to see it finally flourish is really exciting,” Wales Bonner told Vogue ahead of the event. “I was looking at different spaces in New York, but when I found out that Rashid was doing this show, it just felt like the perfect synergy. Even just being around this incredible artwork is a special moment. I think Togetherness is also about seeing artists in different contexts, so it feels right.”
The first edition of Togetherness was held in Paris last June during the city’s Fête de La Musique festival, and saw performers like the French rapper La Fève and the London-based multi-instrumentalist Mansur Brown take to the stage within the gilded setting of the 19th-century Hotel Le Marois. That wasn’t, however, the first time that Wales Bonner has flexed her muscles within the music space—despite admitting she’s “more of a listener” than a musician herself, over her 10 years in business, she’s collaborated with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Solange, and FKA twigs. “It’s quite natural, these friendships and relationships that support and enhance or inspire what I do,” she added. “I think there’s a natural relationship between musicians and designers, and this feels like a natural extension of that relationship.”
Are there any throughlines to the kind of musicians and artists she’s drawn to? “I think it’s about a purity of expression,” she added. “I think I’m really excited about people that break the boundaries of what they’re doing, or have lots of different influences that can be felt within the music. I think that’s really inspiring—music that’s very hybrid, in a way.” That interdisciplinary spirit was on full display on Saturday night, as guests including Paloma Elsesser, Leon Bridges, and IB Kamara filtered through the doors of the museum and sipped whisky margaritas while watching the night’s first performer, singer-songwriter Keiyaa, perform her slinky neo-soul in a Wales Bonner knit dress and one of the brand’s beaded necklaces; later, the Nigerian rock band Etran de L’Aïr brought the house down in the museum’s lower level theater with their playful take on Tuareg desert blues.
“I want the Wales Bonner world to be about physical experiences,” the designer added. “I want to be able to celebrate with people. I feel like sometimes doing a fashion show, it’s quite a small group of people that can experience that—so I want to open up and allow people to interact with our world.”
Wales Bonner is also set to have a big few days ahead with the Met. Not only does she have several pieces in the exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” (you’ll even spot a look from her brilliant spring 2017 collection on the exhibition’s poster), but if rumors are to be believed, there’s an extensive list of talent she’ll be dressing on Monday evening. “Yeah, it’s a lot,” she said of her whirlwind experience leading up to the event. “I’m not sure if I quite anticipated what that meant, but it’s been an amazing learning experience, and very enriching.”
Would she get a moment, then, to let down her hair at Togetherness? To have a drink and a dance before her big night out on Monday? “Really, I’m just a fan,” Wales Bonner said, with a wide smile. “I’m basically creating the concert that I want to see. I feel really lucky, so it’s really important to me that I can get out there and enjoy it.”
Photo: Hannah Turner Harts / BFA.com1/48Grace Wales Bonner
Photo: Hannah Turner Harts / BFA.com2/48Paloma Elsesser
