Some news hits differently.
Grace Wales Bonner being appointed as the new Creative Director of Hermès menswear feels like one of those moments. This is a move that carries serious taste and equal weight. The kind you know we’re here for.
For a house like Hermès, it would’ve been easy to play it safe. To promote from within, to maintain the calm predictability that’s long defined the brand’s creative DNA. Instead, they’ve chosen a designer who’s built a career through raw depth and cultural precision. Someone who earned her place through work that never needed to chase attention to command it.
Wales Bonner’s work has always read like a well-balanced mocha. Rich in heritage, layered in meaning, smooth in execution.
Her collections have long explored the meeting point between identity, craftsmanship, and intellect. Now she’ll bring that same sensibility to a maison synonymous with timeless craft. It’s a match that feels natural, but radical in its timing.
The fashion world has seen its fair share of PR-driven appointments over the years, big names brought in to make headlines rather than history. But this feels different.
It feels refreshing to see a brand of Hermès’ stature invest in substance over surface, in a mind that builds worlds rather than moods.
For decades, the house has been a symbol of refinement. Wales Bonner won’t disrupt that. Quite the opposite. We predict introductions of new codes of style and story, the kind that invites reflection instead of reaction. She’ll bring an understanding of heritage that feels lived in rather than given.
From our seat at Open All Hours, we love what this says about the industry’s direction. That the creative director role can still be given to someone who has put in the years. Someone who’s built a language, not a persona. Someone who brings the integrity of an artist into the architecture of a brand.
This is what taste looks like when it reaches the top. Measured. Grounded. Intentional.
And for that, we’ll raise our cups. Grace, we can not wait to see what you do.
Shot of the good stuff
