British designer to be first black woman to lead a major luxury fashion brand

In 2019, the British designer Grace Wales Bonner told an interviewer it was her dream “to work with a brand like Hermès”.

- Chloe Mac Donnell

Now, the 35-year-old has been named creative director of menswear for the company, becoming the first black female designer to lead a major fashion house.

Wales Bonner will succeed the French designer Véronique Nichanian, 71, who has headed the men’s division for 37 years. Her debut collection will be shown in January 2027. Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the general artistic director for the French luxury brand, praised Wales Bonner’s “appetite and curiosity for artistic practice”, adding: “We are at the start of an enriching mutual dialogue.”