Artist Eric N. Mack’s Collaborative Met Gala Ensemble with Grace Wales Bonner

On May 3, Grace Wales Bonner’s eponymous label presented the second iteration of its “Togetherness” series of musical artists in atypical settings, this time with Nigerian duo The Cavemen, Etran de L’Air, Amaarae, and more at the Guggenheim. Two days later, Wales Bonner ascended the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for fashion’s most spectacular night as a member of this year’s host committee. Amid all of the evening’s illustrious attendees, her own guest, friend, and collaborator Eric N. Mack left an indelible impression.

Mack was adorned with a Washi-paper yarn and gold brocade opera coat, complete with a damask print chiné lining and gold silk piping. It was produced with fabric from the historic Kyoto-based textile makers Hosoo. Beneath, Mack sported a suit composed of flecked black and white wool with gray silk lapels, and satin waistband trousers. Mack, a lauded fine artist, crafted a silk head scarf for the occasion. Manolo Blahnik ponyhair opera shoes, with a crystal buckle, completed the look—a nod to André Leon Talley and his profound presence in the fashion world.

United by a love of poetry, history, and an archive of visual references, Wales Bonner and Mack began to collaborate in 2018. “Her spring-summer 2019 collection was shown in this beautiful townhouse in Belgravia,” Mack tells Surface. “We decided that I would make work based off of her mood board for the collection. We were translating it from textile to textile.” While Wales Bonner looked to dock workers and people working on boats, Mack looked to the sail as a textile intervention. “It really cut through the space and allowed the models to activate in real time,” he says.

Their second collaboration was for her exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, “A Time for New Dreams,” and the runway show she hosted within. “Here, my work developed as this architectural intervention,” Mack explains. “It was this draped tent that the models used as a threshold. It functioned as a portal to the runway. It was layered with silks and transparent chiffons; a fabric collage.”

“Grace’s appreciation for not only my work but for art in general shows up in her practice,” Mack adds. “I work with both manipulated fabrics from my studio but also things that I’ve found and sourced. They end up creating these interesting juxtapositions during their recomposition—their sewing and stitching. It’s a natural fit.” For his silk scarf, Mack painted on layers of silk, but also designed transparent burn outs on silk brocade with an almost velvety finish.

“What I am wearing is emblematic of my own personal style—how I wear clothes, how I feel alive in clothes,” he adds. “These are central points to thinking about Black dandyism, or dandyism in general. When I think about fashion, I think about the garment in motion. This is what makes a runway show such an exciting place to be.”

Represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, Mack will present an exhibition at the American Academy of Arts and Letters this September. Before that, however, he will act as the art director of the PS1 Gala this May. “Eric is a true original, so it was important to create something both elegant and bold,” Wales Bonner tells Surface. “His cape is crafted from a royal Japanese gold brocade and I am delighted he has incorporated his own textile practice in the silk head scarf.”