Horizon Blues

Kerry James Marshall painted shirts for Wales Bonner’s SS23 Pitti Uomo show
By Bailey Slater | Fashion | 15 June 2022

At the 102nd Pitti Immagine Uomo, Grace Wales Bonner set the tone for her latest exploration of Afro-Atlantic art and culture by enlisting Ghanaian artist Ibraham Mahama to create a sculpture of spliced jute sacks. Inviting local collaborators to hand-stitch the creation into one epic and cohesive body, housed inside the historic Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the work is emblematic of the collection’s undercurrent: a tale of roots and of legacy, a tapestry of communal exchange.

Early on, varsity staples from past collections emerged in loose jackets, silver tracksuits and leather football boots. Shirting was typically lax and loose, too, with huge, fanged collars swarmed in studs, waistlines extending down the body in sandy pinstripes, sleeves folding back on themselves with big, bulky cuffs and undone buttons exposing chiselled stomachs. This theme of transformation doesn’t stop here, as Bonner pushes on with breezy mock-rain-macs in loose cotton – slouchy pockets and shoulder lapels, the flappy kind, all included.

Bonner’s cashmere tuxedos, an undoubted highlight of the spectacle, paid tribute to the British tailoring tradition. Made in partnership with Savile Row’s Anderson and Sheppard, some were sleeveless in luxe creams, waists nipped ever-so-slightly. Others were austere in elegant black drape as a series of bejewelled broaches in shiny Pearl, translucent crystal and recycled glass beads made in Ghana commanded the attention of onlookers.

Again drawing on her world of astute references, paintings from Kerry James Marshall adorned colourful tees, while new sounds from Pa Salieu, a breakout rapper from the West Midlands who fuses his Ghanaian heritage with afro-swing and drill beats, accompanied a James William Blades-devised sound installation featuring the ebbs and flows of a bustling market. The mix was eclectic, all-encompassing, and a testament to Bonner’s passion for cultural layering that never seems to cease.

GALLERYCatwalk images from Wales Bonner SPRING-SUMMER-2023





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