Wales Bonner’s Cultural Luxury

2025 is less than 50 days away.

As usual, brands are releasing reports and end-of-the-year lists that give their POV on culture’s most impactful moments and releases.

On the fashion side, a few shoes are topping the list for sneaker of the year.

Generally speaking, you’ll see some of the usual suspects on the list from Nike, Jordan, etc. But, one shoe caught my eye, and it’s only been out for a month, or so.

It’s an Adidas Samba.

But when I took a closer look at the material on the shoe I was intrigued. The material wasn’t just leather, it was CROCODILE.

There have been a lot of takes on the Samba over the course of its life, but this one felt new. It was a unique blend of high fashion and streetwear in a way that feels unexpected.

Ironically, a notification from the Adidas Confirmed app prompted me to shop the collection where the shoe was featured. Upon further inspection, it showed me that the creator was Grace Wales Bonner.

As for her design principles?

Well, if you listen to Grace talk about her work, or visit her website she brings up the term “Cultural Luxury” — something that I wanna unpack a little bit today.

Before we get to that though, let’s set the stage a little bit.

Some of you may not know Grace (yet), so let’s break it down.

IN 1990…

Grace Wales Bonner was born in South London to an English mother and Jamaican father. Growing up, she would split time between parents which allowed her to learn about life from her Jamaican relatives as well as her British ones. It’s heritage that inspires the stories that she would go on to tell in her work.

After grade school, Grace attended Central Saint Martins Art School where she discovered her interest in fashion, and while there, her final project “Afrique” won her the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award.

Shortly after, she launched her own self-named brand, Wales Bonner, in 2014.

Just a year later…

Grace’s breakthrough in the fashion world would begin.

In 2015, she debuted her first collection under Wales Bonner named “Ebonics,” and subsequently won the British Fashion Award where she was recognized as an Emerging Menswear Designer.

In 2016, she won the coveted LVMH Prize — a prize worth $300,000 and a mentorship opportunity at LVMH. Between that award and the connections she was already making in the world of fashion, this year proved to be an accelerant to her ascent.

As for Wales Bonner the brand, it initially focused on menswear, with her designs quickly gaining attention for their fusion of Afro-diasporic themes, exploring identity, spirituality, and Black masculinity in ways that pushed past conventional narratives on Blackness.

In the years to come, specifically with the release of her Spring 2019 collection, Wales Bonner would go on to release women’s wear that also explored many of the same themes as the men’s line.

To date, her work can be seen on celebs like Kendrick Lamar, Mos Def, and Solange, and Sampha.

GRACE’S THESIS OF CULTURAL LUXURY

On the Wales Bonner website first line of the about section states:

“Wales Bonner proposes a distinct notion of cultural luxury that infuses European heritage with an Afro Atlantic spirit.”

It’s a guiding principle that you see clearly when you look at Grace’s work and her perspective on the luxury space. It’s challenging the idea of luxury and what it means.

Grace has stated in interviews that she believes apparel to be one of the most direct forms of communications.

Moreover, one of the goals of her company is to create what she calls “essential luxury” via collections telling stories that draw on different eras and influences of the African diaspora.

At times, she’ll draw on her own lived experiences as a British-Jamaican woman, and at other times she’ll find other muses. The common threads in each instance are the unmistakable qualities that are uniquely her (the print choices, detail to capturing the aesthetics of a specific era, etc.). All of this can be seen when watching the supporting vignettes of each collection as well.

Grace also notes that the approach to her work is heavily grounded in research — a process she notes is instinctual, and even spiritual in the way that things happen to find her while searching archives.

ADIDAS & CULTURAL LUXURY

Grace has noted that for Wales Bonner to achieve its goals in luxury she’s open to collabs as long as it’s the right partner.

With that in mind, in 2020 she unveiled her first collection in partnership with Adidas.

Below are some of the collections from her Adidas partnership to give you a feel for how her work has come to life in culture.

A. Lovers Rock (Fall/Winter 2020)

Fun fact for those who didn’t know: Lovers Rock is actually a style of Reggae — not just the title of Sade’s album.

The pieces from the collection drew together all of the influences from artists in the 80s who performed that style of music.

More specifically, Bonner noted that she drew inspiration from Bob Marley — she wanted to create suits that were reminiscent to what he’d wear in his era.

The debut collection also featured clothing inspired by Grace’s personal influences including her Caribbean heritage, and upbringing in London that I alluded to earlier.

Naturally, the collection is sold out.

To date, the pieces can only be found on sites like Grailed and StockX where they’re on resell for $100s of dollars.

B. The Spring 2024 Collection

In one of her most recent collections with Adidas, Wales Bonners included a throwback SKU from over a decade ago: The Neftenga.

This silhouette was made famous by Ethiopian track star Haile Gebrselassie who broke the Berlin Marathon record in 2008.

Ironically, East Africa was the muse of one of her first shows in 2017, Ezekial, which drew inspiration from figures like Haile Selassie.

C. Discovering a World Within a World (Fall/Winter 2024)

Wales Bonners most recent release (which the Croc skin Sambas/Superstars are a part of) sees her focusing on Black life in New York at a time that looks like the 80s.

You’ll find Black youth wearing Gold chains, jumpsuits, an of course, the grail of all Hip-hop shoes (depending on who you ask), The Adidas Superstar.

EPILOGUE

Grace’s work with Adidas is some of the best I’ve seen this year.

I’m not gone hold you, I can’t really fade the price on the Samba’s (YET!) — But that’s the point. These are luxury sneakers and the details from the Crocodile skin to the woven 3 stripes on some of the silhouettes.

Everything shows an intense appreciation for storytelling that not many share.

If you don’t check out any other collabs this year, I’d take a look at her work.

You won’t be disappointed. Trust.

One.