時間のないもの：グレース・ウェールズ・ボナー＆ガブリエル・モーゼスの対談

This story is taken from the Summer/Autumn 2025 issue of Another Man, which is on sale internationally from April 24. Pre-order here: 

Grace Wales Bonner and Gabriel Moses are two visionary, widely influential creatives whose practices celebrate storytelling, embrace Afro-Atlantic cultures, and explore the fluidity of past and present. Both hailing from south London, their journeys have been shaped by its rich cultural landscape, which has fuelled their distinctive approaches to fashion design and photography.

In this conversation – at the tenth anniversary of Wales Bonner and the fifth anniversary of the brand’s ongoing collaboration with Adidas – they reflect on their early impressions of each other’s work, the influence of their upbringing and their shared commitment to creating fashion and imagery that feel both personal and timeless.

Alayo Akinkugbe: You both emphasise Black culture, storytelling, and the blending of past and present in your work. Do you remember when you first became aware of each other’s work, and what stood out to you?

Gabriel Moses: I was very familiar with Grace’s work through the Adidas collaboration. But it was sitting down with Tom Guinness, as someone who’d actually worked with and knew Grace really closely, that put me on to Grace’s work on a larger scale. I’ve loved the way in which she carries herself and the beautiful simplicity to the way she works.

Grace Wales Bonner: Thank you, Gabriel, that’s very sweet. I feel like your vision came out quite fully formed. I must have at first known about you through your images; it’s such a distinct world and aesthetic that you’ve created and it was just quite striking, for you to be so young and to have such a complete vision. You’re doing something very singularly at such a high level, I found it really impressive and quite rare.

AA: You’re both from south London, which has a distinct energy – it’s a part of the city that’s culturally rich and diverse, where sport, music, and fashion especially intersect. Did growing up in south London shape your visual languages, is it a reference point for either of you?

GM: Growing up in south London, you’d have this kind of healthy arrogance. Because it was like, Rio Ferdinand and Naomi Campbell and Stormzy are from here. Everything that felt far away felt really close at the same time. It was like a superpower, there’s a legacy of people [from south London] achieving things on a global scale. So you grew up believing it’s possible, because someone who grew up down the road has done it. Joe Gomez, who plays for Liverpool, paid for one of my first films when I was 18. And it’s that sense of community [in south London] that I hold really closely.

GWB: Growing up in south London I was just being exposed to lots of different cultural influences. I think my ideas of style come from my childhood and spending my teenage years in south London. I went to school in south-west London but I grew up in south-east London, so I was always on the bus travelling from different ends of the city. I would always see different kinds of people getting on and off the bus, and all these different styles; traditional dress and sportswear, all being mixed in a really interesting way. That effortless mix of different elements, cultural traditions and spiritual traditions was a really interesting environment to grow up around. And the multiculturalism of London as well, I’m a product of that.

AA: The Adidas Originals by Wales Bonner collaboration has become a cultural marker since its launch in 2020, appealing to a cross-section of society – from corporate workers to the fashion set, and teenagers. What do you think has made it endure and resonate so deeply across different communities?

GM: As a consumer, I can say it just hits so many personal and cultural touch points. You can tell the research that goes into [the collaborations]. When she does it, you’re like “oh, my days, this reminds me of this!” or “that’s what I grew up thinking was cool.” She always just hits the nail on the head.

Even with my friends who aren’t really into fashion, they identify with it as well. It just feels perfect every time. Another thing that I’ve loved about Grace is that continuous excellence. That’s what makes me a fan of anyone, it’s that consistency.

“I’ve always wanted to push what I see as beautiful, so it’s a no-brainer for me to put my community and what I’ve grown up around in my work” – Gabriel Moses 

GWB: It’s nice to see your lens on the collection, the story looks really poetic and it has a lovely quietness to it. You have that consistency as well in terms of what you do.

With Adidas I’m always interested in working with something that could feel quite familiar, but bringing a sense of disruption or another sort of rhythm to it. It’s almost a double take effect; you think you know what it is but it’s slightly different. I like to work with the archive and with something that’s existing, but bring a different cultural sensibility to it. A sense of refinement and elevation is always what I try to bring from a design perspective.

My interest in working with Adidas also comes from seeing how the brand has shown up in culture over the years. I’m embracing the way that Adidas has been worn by people, and then creating new genres of style from that. I think there’s such a rich cultural history there.

AA: World-building and storytelling is a strong element of both of your practices. Why is it important for both of you to create these universes in which Black protagonists – along with our diverse histories and cultures – are at the centre?

GM: My introduction to photography comes from a lot of old family photos. I didn’t study photography in school or in university, it was literally going into the drawer where my mum showed me old pictures of my grandparents in the 60s and all sorts of things. I looked at that, and I was like, “that’s what I see as beautiful, that’s what I see as life.” I saw my granddad and his friends and the way they dress, the way they pose. I also liked the contrast in the images and the way they’ve aged. I always fall in love with that texture.

I’ve always wanted to push what I see as beautiful, so it’s a no-brainer for me to put my community and what I’ve grown up around in my work. This is what I want in my imagery, this is my perspective. As artists, that’s all we’re asked to do, just bring our perspective to things.

GWB: I can relate to that in terms of starting off and trying to represent something that just feels quite familiar. Like an idea of beauty that is familial and like relates to my family, and the idea of Black elegance and grace. It’s something I saw around me that I didn’t feel was reflected in fashion at the time; that was ten years ago.

I feel like the landscape’s changed a lot, in terms of representation within imagery, within fashion and with different image makers as well. There’s a much more diverse language around representation which is super encouraging. But somehow it’s quite a personal journey, of reflecting the beauty I see in the world, across cultures.

AA: Grace, you’ve spoken about bringing “an Afro-Atlantic perspective to European luxury”, and Gabriel, your practice often overlaps with ideas of Afro-Atlantic luxury, or elegance. What appeals to you both about this idea?

GM: There’s beauty and influence in what we naturally bring. So much is influenced by us and people that look like us. Looking back at the pictures of my grandma and granddad … they looked good, they dressed well, and they knew it. With all of my subjects I’ve always wanted to be audacious or show that element of beauty and confidence.

GWB: Gabriel, where do you get that confidence from?

GM: My mum. She has always spoken greatness into me, from when I was very young. Just the way you speak to people influences the way they grow up. It’s funny, I’ve got a family tradition where every girl is called Grace. Both my mum and my sister are Grace, and my first born daughter will be Grace. My middle name is Grace in Yoruba, Oreofe – it means God’s Grace.

My mum was definitely the source of that confidence. Coming into this as a young Black boy being from south London, speaking how I speak, looking how I look, I feel like people didn’t really believe that I could make the imagery I make. So I had to just bring my own essence to it, because I didn’t feel accepted in the first place. I was at peace with the idea that I’m meant to kind of, sit separately.

GWB: Do you still feel like you sit outside of something, or do you feel differently now?

GM: There’s always another challenge, I still have those things I’m fighting against. But it’s not something that I take too personally. At the end of the day we’re going through things so future generations have less of a problem.

“I want my work to stand the test of time. I’m an image-maker – campaigns come and go, but good imagery lasts forever”  – Grace Wales Bonner

GWB: I’m feeling quite reflective, because it’s now been ten years of Wales Bonner, and I feel like that’s ten years of building a language. I also feel confident in my abilities, because it’s that repetition of refining craft over time. I have an archive I can refer to, and I can go back to early ideas, where I really didn’t have the means to realise them in a certain way, and bring that refinement and understanding I have now.

I think there’s such honesty and purity about my early intentions, even with very limited resources. Yesterday, I was actually with some of the early pieces I made and there’s a lot of handsewn embroidery and really detailed work. It was kind of crazy that I was doing that in that circumstance. I was still wanting to find and reveal beauty, and create something really elevated. I think there was a kind of innocence about how I created early on and reconnecting with that is really positive for me.

AA: Gabriel, you’ve spoken about the importance of creating “timeless work”, explaining that you often find inspiration in the work of artists from bygone eras, and Grace you consistently draw from and re-interpret historical and archival material. Is a sense of timelessness an aim for both of you, in your work?

GWB: I think about time a lot and the layering of past, present, future. But I also consider time in a circular way. I always want to be future-oriented, in my view, and be looking towards the horizon and creating something new, even if it’s inspired by the past.

I think timelessness is a challenge, in a good way. To create something timeless is the goal in terms of design. I find that an interesting challenge, to create something that could have been found in the market a hundred years ago, or found in a hundred years and you can’t really place it. I think that’s an interesting place to be; thinking about future antiquity.

GM: I’ve always loved being in my studio looking at Malick Sidibé’s book. I love the idea that I’m here at age 26 in 2025 looking at someone’s work from decades ago. I’ve always enjoyed that idea and I want the same thing for myself; for my work to stand the test of time. I’m an image-maker – campaigns come and go, but good imagery lasts forever. 

Hair: Cyndia Harvey at Art Partner. Make-up: Mata Mariélle at The Wall Group using HOURGLASS BEAUTY. Models: Diogo Gomes, Fidel Balthazar, Edward Muscat, John Glacier, Lebo Malope and Zaram Obasi. Set design: Julia Dias. Casting: Mischa Notcutt at Drive Represents. Movement director: Emmanuelle Loca-Gisquet. Digital tech: Ben Quinton. Photographic assistants: Darren Karl-Smith and Kiran Mane. Styling assistants: Alexander Bainbridge and Melina Frangos. Hair assistants: Karen Bradshaw, Nick Barford and Kunmi Dada. Make-up assistant: Dolli Okoriko. Casting assistant: Ophelia Horton. Set design assistants: Sam Edyn, Matthew Payne, Toby Broughton and Ferg Lockyer. Production: Liberty Dye at Concrete Rep. On set producer: Phoebe Asker. Post-production: The Hand of God. John is wearing her own ring throughout

This story features in the Summer/Autumn 2025 issue of Another Man, which is on sale internationally from April 24. Order here.

This story is taken from the Summer/Autumn 2025 issue of Another Man, which is on sale internationally from April 24. Pre-order here: 

Grace Wales Bonner and Gabriel Moses are two visionary, widely influential creatives whose practices celebrate storytelling, embrace Afro-Atlantic cultures, and explore the fluidity of past and present. Both hailing from south London, their journeys have been shaped by its rich cultural landscape, which has fuelled their distinctive approaches to fashion design and photography.

In this conversation – at the tenth anniversary of Wales Bonner and the fifth anniversary of the brand’s ongoing collaboration with Adidas – they reflect on their early impressions of each other’s work, the influence of their upbringing and their shared commitment to creating fashion and imagery that feel both personal and timeless.

Alayo Akinkugbe: You both emphasise Black culture, storytelling, and the blending of past and present in your work. Do you remember when you first became aware of each other’s work, and what stood out to you?

Gabriel Moses: I was very familiar with Grace’s work through the Adidas collaboration. But it was sitting down with Tom Guinness, as someone who’d actually worked with and knew Grace really closely, that put me on to Grace’s work on a larger scale. I’ve loved the way in which she carries herself and the beautiful simplicity to the way she works.

Grace Wales Bonner: Thank you, Gabriel, that’s very sweet. I feel like your vision came out quite fully formed. I must have at first known about you through your images; it’s such a distinct world and aesthetic that you’ve created and it was just quite striking, for you to be so young and to have such a complete vision. You’re doing something very singularly at such a high level, I found it really impressive and quite rare.

AA: You’re both from south London, which has a distinct energy – it’s a part of the city that’s culturally rich and diverse, where sport, music, and fashion especially intersect. Did growing up in south London shape your visual languages, is it a reference point for either of you?

GM: Growing up in south London, you’d have this kind of healthy arrogance. Because it was like, Rio Ferdinand and Naomi Campbell and Stormzy are from here. Everything that felt far away felt really close at the same time. It was like a superpower, there’s a legacy of people [from south London] achieving things on a global scale. So you grew up believing it’s possible, because someone who grew up down the road has done it. Joe Gomez, who plays for Liverpool, paid for one of my first films when I was 18. And it’s that sense of community [in south London] that I hold really closely.

GWB: Growing up in south London I was just being exposed to lots of different cultural influences. I think my ideas of style come from my childhood and spending my teenage years in south London. I went to school in south-west London but I grew up in south-east London, so I was always on the bus travelling from different ends of the city. I would always see different kinds of people getting on and off the bus, and all these different styles; traditional dress and sportswear, all being mixed in a really interesting way. That effortless mix of different elements, cultural traditions and spiritual traditions was a really interesting environment to grow up around. And the multiculturalism of London as well, I’m a product of that.

AA: The Adidas Originals by Wales Bonner collaboration has become a cultural marker since its launch in 2020, appealing to a cross-section of society – from corporate workers to the fashion set, and teenagers. What do you think has made it endure and resonate so deeply across different communities?

GM: As a consumer, I can say it just hits so many personal and cultural touch points. You can tell the research that goes into [the collaborations]. When she does it, you’re like “oh, my days, this reminds me of this!” or “that’s what I grew up thinking was cool.” She always just hits the nail on the head.

Even with my friends who aren’t really into fashion, they identify with it as well. It just feels perfect every time. Another thing that I’ve loved about Grace is that continuous excellence. That’s what makes me a fan of anyone, it’s that consistency.

“I’ve always wanted to push what I see as beautiful, so it’s a no-brainer for me to put my community and what I’ve grown up around in my work” – Gabriel Moses 

GWB: It’s nice to see your lens on the collection, the story looks really poetic and it has a lovely quietness to it. You have that consistency as well in terms of what you do.

With Adidas I’m always interested in working with something that could feel quite familiar, but bringing a sense of disruption or another sort of rhythm to it. It’s almost a double take effect; you think you know what it is but it’s slightly different. I like to work with the archive and with something that’s existing, but bring a different cultural sensibility to it. A sense of refinement and elevation is always what I try to bring from a design perspective.

My interest in working with Adidas also comes from seeing how the brand has shown up in culture over the years. I’m embracing the way that Adidas has been worn by people, and then creating new genres of style from that. I think there’s such a rich cultural history there.

AA: World-building and storytelling is a strong element of both of your practices. Why is it important for both of you to create these universes in which Black protagonists – along with our diverse histories and cultures – are at the centre?

GM: My introduction to photography comes from a lot of old family photos. I didn’t study photography in school or in university, it was literally going into the drawer where my mum showed me old pictures of my grandparents in the 60s and all sorts of things. I looked at that, and I was like, “that’s what I see as beautiful, that’s what I see as life.” I saw my granddad and his friends and the way they dress, the way they pose. I also liked the contrast in the images and the way they’ve aged. I always fall in love with that texture.

I’ve always wanted to push what I see as beautiful, so it’s a no-brainer for me to put my community and what I’ve grown up around in my work. This is what I want in my imagery, this is my perspective. As artists, that’s all we’re asked to do, just bring our perspective to things.

GWB: I can relate to that in terms of starting off and trying to represent something that just feels quite familiar. Like an idea of beauty that is familial and like relates to my family, and the idea of Black elegance and grace. It’s something I saw around me that I didn’t feel was reflected in fashion at the time; that was ten years ago.

I feel like the landscape’s changed a lot, in terms of representation within imagery, within fashion and with different image makers as well. There’s a much more diverse language around representation which is super encouraging. But somehow it’s quite a personal journey, of reflecting the beauty I see in the world, across cultures.

AA: Grace, you’ve spoken about bringing “an Afro-Atlantic perspective to European luxury”, and Gabriel, your practice often overlaps with ideas of Afro-Atlantic luxury, or elegance. What appeals to you both about this idea?

GM: There’s beauty and influence in what we naturally bring. So much is influenced by us and people that look like us. Looking back at the pictures of my grandma and granddad … they looked good, they dressed well, and they knew it. With all of my subjects I’ve always wanted to be audacious or show that element of beauty and confidence.

GWB: Gabriel, where do you get that confidence from?

GM: My mum. She has always spoken greatness into me, from when I was very young. Just the way you speak to people influences the way they grow up. It’s funny, I’ve got a family tradition where every girl is called Grace. Both my mum and my sister are Grace, and my first born daughter will be Grace. My middle name is Grace in Yoruba, Oreofe – it means God’s Grace.

My mum was definitely the source of that confidence. Coming into this as a young Black boy being from south London, speaking how I speak, looking how I look, I feel like people didn’t really believe that I could make the imagery I make. So I had to just bring my own essence to it, because I didn’t feel accepted in the first place. I was at peace with the idea that I’m meant to kind of, sit separately.

GWB: Do you still feel like you sit outside of something, or do you feel differently now?

GM: There’s always another challenge, I still have those things I’m fighting against. But it’s not something that I take too personally. At the end of the day we’re going through things so future generations have less of a problem.

“I want my work to stand the test of time. I’m an image-maker – campaigns come and go, but good imagery lasts forever”  – Grace Wales Bonner

GWB: I’m feeling quite reflective, because it’s now been ten years of Wales Bonner, and I feel like that’s ten years of building a language. I also feel confident in my abilities, because it’s that repetition of refining craft over time. I have an archive I can refer to, and I can go back to early ideas, where I really didn’t have the means to realise them in a certain way, and bring that refinement and understanding I have now.

I think there’s such honesty and purity about my early intentions, even with very limited resources. Yesterday, I was actually with some of the early pieces I made and there’s a lot of handsewn embroidery and really detailed work. It was kind of crazy that I was doing that in that circumstance. I was still wanting to find and reveal beauty, and create something really elevated. I think there was a kind of innocence about how I created early on and reconnecting with that is really positive for me.

AA: Gabriel, you’ve spoken about the importance of creating “timeless work”, explaining that you often find inspiration in the work of artists from bygone eras, and Grace you consistently draw from and re-interpret historical and archival material. Is a sense of timelessness an aim for both of you, in your work?

GWB: I think about time a lot and the layering of past, present, future. But I also consider time in a circular way. I always want to be future-oriented, in my view, and be looking towards the horizon and creating something new, even if it’s inspired by the past.

I think timelessness is a challenge, in a good way. To create something timeless is the goal in terms of design. I find that an interesting challenge, to create something that could have been found in the market a hundred years ago, or found in a hundred years and you can’t really place it. I think that’s an interesting place to be; thinking about future antiquity.

GM: I’ve always loved being in my studio looking at Malick Sidibé’s book. I love the idea that I’m here at age 26 in 2025 looking at someone’s work from decades ago. I’ve always enjoyed that idea and I want the same thing for myself; for my work to stand the test of time. I’m an image-maker – campaigns come and go, but good imagery lasts forever. 

Hair: Cyndia Harvey at Art Partner. Make-up: Mata Mariélle at The Wall Group using HOURGLASS BEAUTY. Models: Diogo Gomes, Fidel Balthazar, Edward Muscat, John Glacier, Lebo Malope and Zaram Obasi. Set design: Julia Dias. Casting: Mischa Notcutt at Drive Represents. Movement director: Emmanuelle Loca-Gisquet. Digital tech: Ben Quinton. Photographic assistants: Darren Karl-Smith and Kiran Mane. Styling assistants: Alexander Bainbridge and Melina Frangos. Hair assistants: Karen Bradshaw, Nick Barford and Kunmi Dada. Make-up assistant: Dolli Okoriko. Casting assistant: Ophelia Horton. Set design assistants: Sam Edyn, Matthew Payne, Toby Broughton and Ferg Lockyer. Production: Liberty Dye at Concrete Rep. On set producer: Phoebe Asker. Post-production: The Hand of God. John is wearing her own ring throughout

This story features in the Summer/Autumn 2025 issue of Another Man, which is on sale internationally from April 24. Order here.