Fashion firsts are rare. They arrive loudly, often too late, and yet they still feel monumental when they do. Grace Wales Bonner’s appointment as the first Black woman to helm a luxury fashion house – ever – is one of those moments that stops you in your tracks – yes, it’s a beautiful moment, but the weight of it is immense.
As a Black woman from South London, like Grace, this news feels historically momentous – a mirror of possibility, proof that greatness cannot be ignored. At the same time, it makes me wonder: why has it taken this long? None of this should feel historic. It’s 2025; there shouldn’t still be a ‘first Black anything,’ especially in an industry with such a vast pool of talent and global influence.
©@walesbonner
These days, fashion often celebrates diversity on the runway, but rarely reflects it in the rooms where real decisions are made. Grace’s appointment, as a Black woman but also as a woman, also goes a tiny way to redress the lack of female creative directors in the global luxury goods industry.
Grace succeeds Véronique Nichanian, who spent 37 years at Hermès and will present her final collection in January 2026. It’s wild to think that Grace, now 35, wasn’t yet born when Nichanian first started at the House. Taking to her Instagram the award wining designer wrote, ‘It is a dream realized to embark on this new chapter,’ she said of the ‘opportunity to bring my vision to this magical house’.
Wales Bonner started out age 24 and has been steadily crafting her collections to great acclaim ever since. She’s won Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards (2015), the LVMH Prize (2016), CFDA International Men’s Designer of the Year (2021), and British Menswear Designer of the Year at the Fashion Awards (2024). Her label has grown from strength to strength, while maintaining a long-standing collaboration with Adidas and consistently redefining modern masculinity through a Black British lens.
It’s a wonderful thing that so many Black women in fashion will see themselves in Grace. There’s something grounding about her success, it makes the impossible feel possible. Grace will present her debut Hermès collection in January 2027, giving her time to fully shape her long-anticipated vision. And for those of us who see ourselves reflected in her rise, that vision already carries meaning: proof that yes, you can do it too. The door has finally been opened, a reminder that your talent can redefine even the most traditional institutions.
Main Image Credit: Getty Images
Renee Washington, Grazia’s digital fashion and beauty writer, lives online. With a penchant for wispy lashes and streetwear, she writes about the worlds of fashion and beauty from the viewpoint of the modern fashion girlie.
