Harris Reed, the British American designer, at 27 years old feels the weight of London Fashion Week on his shoulders, despite showing off schedule.
“I know I have to go big and bold and make it a performance because most people skip London,” he said in an interview.
Reed’s shows for the past two seasons have been staged at the Tate Modern. It’s a runway for expression for him, but this time around he toned down the volume to let everyone focus on the craftsmanship of his work.
“The reason that people, including myself, take these jobs in Paris and Milan is the fact that there’s support, but also a massive amount of wealth,” said Harris, who debuted his first collection as creative director at Nina Ricci earlier this year.
The big teams he’s allowed to work with, the materials he has access to and the experience he’s gained from Nina Ricci has been applied to his own namesake label.
He purposely used only three colors — copper, black and white — for his operatic designs.
Reed teased that the next chapter of his brand will be a further exploration of color and texture, but for the time being it was all “silhouette, silhouette, silhouette.”
Ashley Graham opened the show, hovering seductively across the low dimmed stonewash Turbine Hall of the Tate as Cosima serenaded the audience.
“I really wanted to put the focus on the individuals; there’s no one who feels more about embracing themselves than her [Graham], [she’s] all about body and boobs and hips. I like somebody who can be the leader, with so many designers being a leader for me, she really lends her insight and confidence to so many other people,” said Reed.
The show overran its fuel in length, but backstage that was all forgotten about with Reed’s welcoming and optimistic demeanor.