Not ideal for fashion’s sake, but for someone who did not want her first name in the brand name because, as she has noted in the past, it is not about her, this arrangement might be her preferred scenario to explain how she is “the product of growing up in London and its multiculturalism”.

After her white English mother and Jamaican father separated, Wales Bonner spent much of her teens riding the bus between her mother’s home in Dulwich and her father’s in Stockwell, taking in a colourful cross-section of the British capital en route. The city’s influence can be seen in such pieces as the Stockwell Dashiki shirt from her spring/summer 2021 Essence collection, which, like much of her oeuvre, explores the history of the African diaspora.

Book-smart and ambitious, she might have become a historian had she not been accepted by one of the world’s top art schools to study fashion. “I wanted to either go to Saint Martins or do something else completely,” she says. “Those were the two options, really.”

Which she did. To go alongside her graduate collection, Afrique, in 2014, Wales Bonner voluntarily produced a 10,000-word dissertation titled “Black on Black”, which looked at the work of such artists as Charlie Parker, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kerry James Marshall. The collection won her the L’Oréal Professionnel Talent Award while the dissertation earned her a personal commendation from the dean at Central Saint Martins.

Delphine Arnault, executive vice-president of Louis Vuitton and the woman behind the LVMH Prize, told the press in 2016: “Grace Wales Bonner has a unique vision and point of view. And the work that she does on the tailoring is very interesting. The way she uses the embroidery, the cuts are perfect. But the jury also thinks that she has great potential in womenswear.”

It is clear that she does not deal in sound bites, nor does she indulge in pontification. Eventually, she says, “I guess I design in a specific way that is just really open to having people interpret those things. It’s always inspiring to see how people imagine things and transform them in the way they wear them. So … yeah, I’m not sure. I guess it’s a personal, individual choice to choose which clothing resonates.”

Despite increasing demand, it was not until June 2018 that Wales Bonner expanded into womenswear proper with a 12-piece capsule collection. Critics and consumers rejoiced.

But it is not only boundary-breaking royals who wear Wales Bonner. Libby Page, luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter’s senior market editor, describes the Wales Bonner woman as having “a modern approach to dressing, really favouring the subtle details and timeless approaches”.

“The sporty, laid-back approach of [Wales Bonner] menswear has perfectly translated to its womenswear collection in such a natural way. Its knitwear pieces are key for this season, and we’re in love with the traditional shapes and techniques which have been given a modern update.

“Examples of this include the argyle sweater and the college-inspired cardigan,” she says. “Craftsmanship is an integral part of the collection, and this can be seen this season via the crochet dress – we are sure this will resonate with the Net-a-Porter customer as they look to buy something truly special.”

As for the designer herself, “I like wearing tailored jackets, shirting and tailored trousers,” she says. “I’m interested in craftsmanship and making, and I think that the suit and tailoring – in terms of representation – has an important role to play. Working with tailoring is kind of like playing with history or having a conversation with history, which I like.

“I also like the fact that there’s a framework within tailoring; I like to work within some kind of framework. It’s not completely open. It’s like there are areas of clothes that are continuous [throughout the decades].”

Autumn/winter 2020 marked her first collection in an ongoing collaboration with Adidas Originals, a sportswear line featuring retro polos, wide tracksuit trousers and reworked Nizza trainers. It was hailed by GQ as “the best designer collaboration going”.

And sportswear is by no means a step down.

All this has merged into Wales Bonner creating clothes for the “new normal”; relaxed enough for working from home while also looking great on a video call; clothes that explore gender and identity in the least gimmicky way possible; clothes that are joyful at a time when many things are not.

What more could we want from our wardrobe than that?