Designer Harris Reed thrills the fashion world with genderfluid fashion
Gucci head designer Alessandro Michele adores him, superstars like Lady Gaga and Harry Styles swear by him, he recently designed his own make-up line at MAC and the "GQ Men of the Year Awards 2021" crowned him Newcomer of the Year. If anyone had an incomparably exciting 2021, it was probably young designer Harris Reed. And this despite the fact that he had only completed his education at the famous Central Saint Martins College in London this summer. From campus directly to a meeting with superstar Harry Styles - that was no longer unusual for Reed. His rise has been nothing short of meteoric. In 2017, he was spotted by stylist Harry Lambert on Instagram, and things took off after that. He was named the most famous graduate during the pandemic by the British press, because he was already styling stars like Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus while he was still attending numerous fashion seminars. In fact, it was ultimately a dress on Harry Styles in the December 2020 US Vogue that brought the designer worldwide recognition and fame.
He describes his style as "Romanticism Gone Nonbinary".
It particularly focuses on the person wearing his fashion. Reed particularly wants to fight for the recognition of gender fluidity with his work. He describes himself as genderfluid: he feels defined neither by the concept of woman nor that of man. He once used the pronoun "they/them", but recently switched to "he/him". His fashion breaks down the traditional division into men's and women's clothing and does not subordinate itself to traditional gender images or seasonal fashion. The designer with British-Mexican roots likes to mix traditional British men's tailoring with romantic style elements of Victorian fashion in his designs. Particularly exciting are the additional, punky accents from the punk and gothic movement, which give his fashion the finishing touch.
With his latest collection, the designer seems to have found himself
Fun Fact: Reed had never used a sewing machine until he studied at Central Saint Martins. "I'm just as comfortable with ruffles and draping as I am with tape. But I'll always use my glue gun, even for Vogue," he flirted with The Guardian. His September 2021 demi-couture collection was named Found. The naming describes the state of mind the designer was in when developing the collection. A sign of having finally found himself among all the hustle and bustle? In The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, he finally presented his first salon-like show as performative art, which impressively showcased the designed garments - partly made of sinfully expensive fabric and partly from found objects from second-hand shops. But Reed not only recognizes himself as a designer, he even models some of his fashion himself, which is very unusual for a designer. He also works as a model and can be seen alongside Harry Styles in Gucci's campaign for the new genderless perfume "Memoire d'une Odeur".
The beautiful Emma Watson wore a custom-made upcycled demi-couture dress from the Harris Reed FOUND collection at the Earthshot Prize ceremony in London. The dress was made from upcycled bridal wear from Oxfam and paired with Harris Reed's signature H-pants. But Reed doesn't just define himself as a designer, he even models some of his fashion himself, which is very unusual for a designer. He also works beyond that as a model and can be seen alongside Harry Styles in Gucci's campaign for the new genderless perfume "Memoire d'une Odeur".
Most recently, he wowed his followers on Instagram with a beautiful, genderfluid wedding dress he designed for influencer Camille Charriére. A dream of upcycled, embroidered French couture lace and fingerless opera gloves. We're already looking forward to more creations of gender-fluid clothing from Reed, to further pursue and cheer on the breaking down of the limiting division between men's and women's fashion.
