Wales Bonner’s Autumn-Winter 2021 Collection Celebrates Afro-Atlantic Intellectualism
The transcendent collection and film pay homage to post-colonial academia.
With an eye for sharp tailoring and incorporation of European and Caribbean intellectualism, the latest from designer Grace Wales Bonner’s eponymous label feels at once timeless and brand new. The Autumn Winter 2021 installment, dubbed Black Sunlight, gains inspiration from the postcolonial discourse of Caribbean, Indian, and West African scholars. Black Sunlight is punctuated by prep school-chic elements in sumptuous cashmere and wool in an array of neutrals and elemental tones. Diasporic influences are clear throughout, linking together Jamaican-inspired hand-printed shirts with preppy blazers and shearling coats.
Along with the collection of mens and womenswear, Bonner collaborated with Jamaican-born Brooklynite and filmmaker Jeano Edwards on “The Light of Black Sunlight,” a film memory of the installment. Edwards recites poet Derek Walcott’s “Star and Exile” over ambient sounds and a rich piano performance by Laraaji. The film’s lush, ethereal setting marries perfectly with the collection’s understated elegance. Shot in scenes of Jamaica and London, the film underscores the installment’s collaborative consciousness