Grace Wales Bonner to launch womenswear

British designer of the moment Grace Wales Bonner is moving from her menswear roots into the womenswear sector with the news being teased on her Instagram account to her 60,000 followers.

Information is scarce at present with the ‘announcement’ saying little apart from showing a (female) model in a white jacket and black trousers. Wales Bonner hasn’t commented beyond what’s on Instagram.

But it seems that Matchesfashion will be selling the new line. There are no images on the luxury website, but a ‘coming soon’ note and a line of text saying: “Central Saint Martins graduate Grace Wales Bonner is known for her avant-garde menswear designs. This season she has adapted certain pieces – crumpled velvet and denim looks – for women, via careful feminine twists and softer silhouettes.”

Such a low-key flagging up of the development belies the importance of the move. Wales Bonner is seen as one of the ring stars of UK fashion and her career so far has seen her gaining a prominence that many other young designers would envy.

She graduated from CSM only in 2014 and has since won a raft of prestigious industry prizes. They include the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award in 2014, the British Fashion Award for Emerging Men’s Wear Designer in 2015 and the LVMH Young Designer prize a year later.

This trio of top titles helped boost her appeal at London Fashion Week Men’s where she is one of the star attractions. But it’s perhaps surprising her latest men’s collection at the event, shown only a couple of weeks ago to wide acclaim, didn’t include any hint of a move into womenswear.

So it looks like we’ll have to wait and see if this latest development is a one-off, a small-scale category expansion or a major step to grow her business.

Grace Wales Bonner to launch womenswear

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