Designer Grace Wales Bonner has made a habit of elevating track pants and sportswear from ordinary to sublime. Her clothes occupy that rare space in menswear: they're both timeless and of-the-moment.
In January, when IRL fashion shows were still a thing, the rising designer showed a taste of her first collection with the Adidas on the runway during London Fashion Week. And now, you can finally get your hands on all those beautiful tracksuits and sneakers.
“I was interested in elevating the familiar, and bringing an eveningwear and tailored sensibility to this essential collection,” Bonner explains in a press release. She has done precisely that. There are several Adidas tracksuits, and each feels familiar enough with the classic Three Stripes and iconic Adidas logo, but that's where the familiarity stops. Bonner has reimagined the wares with style-forward details such as crocheted stripes and oversized ribbing. There are soccer jerseys with knit roll necks and satin sleeves. It all follows the design thinking seen in her eponymous label. Boner produces timeless fashion inspired by yesteryear—in this case, the inspiration comes from the trailblazing style of the late Jam Master Jay—but her execution and details push everything she does right into the modern, covetable territory.
The sneakers carry a similar sense of artful wearability. Bonner’s collection features her take on the SL72 silhouette, a narrow 1970s-era trainer, and two different versions of the iconic Samba sneaker. Similar to the clothes, all sneakers capture the spirit of an earlier era with fabrics like corduroy, rich velvet, antique leather. Her version of the Samba feels special compared to the original: a raw cotton upper and hand-stitched details come together to make the classic shoe feel completely new.
Adidas, for its part, continues to make a play at the heart of contemporary fashion. This month has already given us a collaboration with menswear star Jonah Hill, and adding a beloved in-the-know designer into the mix is a sharp move. But the real star here is Bonner. The designer has proven to be a rising force in fashion, and a next-level collaboration with a giant like Adidas is just further proof that, when it comes to producing sought-after style, there isn’t much Grace Wales Bonner can’t do.
