The Year of the Horse is meant to signal independence and freedom, but in fashion, the horse has long symbolised power and privilege. Now, with Grace Wales Bonner at the helm of Hermès menswear, that legacy is being rewritten.
There seems to be a general fascination with the symbol of the horse. My go-to group chat has been discussing the coming of the Year of the Horse for weeks. My FYP even longer. Doomscrolling has left me with a set of instructions for the Lunar New Year: on the 17th of February, don’t wash your hair or you’ll rinse away your wealth; wear red to attract fortune; don’t take medicine unless you want to invite illness into the next twelve months. Done, done and done.
The Year of the Horse is about movement, freedom and independence. But historically, particularly in the Western world, the horse carried a very different meaning. Equitation or horsemanship was the privilege of landowners, cavalry officers and aristocrats. Equestrian styles became synonyms for status and generational wealth, and the fashion industry has long mirrored that symbolism. Think Gucci’s horsebit loafer, Polo Ralph Lauren or Burberry’s Equestrian Knight.
Hermès was founded in 1837 as a harness and saddle workshop; the Parisian Maison built its legacy equipping elite riders. Previous to the Birkin or the Kelly becoming status symbols, Hermès crafted leather goods for its most aristocratic client: the horse. Its iconography, stirrup closures, carriage logos, and polished bridles still signify that origin.
Nearly two centuries later, that legacy is (finally) being reinterpreted. London-based designer Grace Wales Bonner was announced as the new creative director of menswear at Hermès late last year, and is set to debut in January 2027, succeeding French designer Véronique Nichanian after almost four decades at the helm.
Bonner, who founded her eponymous brand in 2014 straight after graduating from Central Saint Martins, is a Black British woman whose work continues to thread the intersection of her dual Jamaican and English heritage, while interrogating European tailoring, colonial history and diasporic identity, and who will now steer the storied French house.
The news arrives after decades in which creative leadership at the most established Maisons is overwhelmingly white and male. Women, and particularly women of colour, are rarely entrusted with the top role. According to 1Granary, only 12% of fashion Houses are led by female creative directors, despite women accounting for between 74% and 85% of fashion design students.
Which is why the Horse feels symbolic this year in a way that goes beyond astrology. So yes, I will probably wash my hair the day before Lunar New Year, and I will probably wear red. But beyond the superstition, the Year of the Horse feels like an invitation to examine who has historically been allowed to ride, and who is now steering.
Words – Moira González