Harris Reed Opened London Fashion Week With Big Bang Queer and Queenly Show

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Harris Reed Opened London Fashion Week With Big Bang Queer and Queenly Show AOC Fashion

"This isn't so much a direct interpretation of the British monarchy's sartorial inclination, but instead a look at how the club-kid scene has long borrowed, loaned and built upon the regal wardrobe," the Harris Reed collection notes read.

In Harris Reed’s own words: “Hello London, let’s make some fluid history this season . . . “ in a show entitled ‘60 Years a Queen’, inspired by Sir Herbert Maxwell’s 1987 book of the same name. The designer stumbled on the book about the reign of Queen Victoria, during his first year at Central Saint Martins.

Harris Reed x Etro Collab Achieves Perfect Alignment Magic Carpet Fashion Ride

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Designer Harris Reed of Harris Reed x Etro Collab via Etro IG.

All images courtesy of Etro.

A Star Is Born: Harris Reed

When the convo is focused on young, emerging, fashion designers, do not make an example of Harris Reed. Perhaps never in the future of fashion has a young designer woke on the day of his [her] first-ever runway show as the subject of a 5,000 word profile on said designer in The New Yorker.

On the morning of Harris Reed’s spring 2022 fashion show, the 25-year-old, 2020 graduate from Central Saint Martins, was living rent free in a perfectly-appointed studio suite at London’s Standard Hotel, a reward for his exceptional, creative status. Reed insists that the majority of this good fortune came in moments of serendipity, none more so than his chance meeting with celebrity stylist Harry Lambert. That encounter opened the perfectly-primed for Reed’s design-vision door to the world of Harry Styles. In the words of Vogue:

“The pop star’s 39 million followers kicked in, and just like that, a star was born. As his debut show demonstrated, Reed—who is the son of the Oscar-winning movie producer Nick Reed—thrives in the costume territory. He repurposed bridal and groom’s wear sourced from the British charity chain Oxfam into majestic hybrids of gowns and tuxedos, topping them off with enormous spherical headpieces that have become his trademark.”

Fast-forward now and who better for Harris Reed to collaborate with on a collection of genderless, sustainable, and colorful voluminous blouses than the house of Etro.

Harris Reed x Etro partnership

“When Harris Reed reached out to collaborate with us on this special project, I did not have doubts. Harris is a young and talented designer that conveys wonderful messages with his work and I was happy to have the chance to mix our textile research and archival fabrics with his innovative approach and taste. I also loved the idea of giving a new life to archival fabrics by transforming them into exclusive ‘one-of-a-kind’ creations,” said Veronica Etro, creative director at Etro Womenswear.

Veronica Etro and Harris Reed backstage at the spring 2022 Etro show in Milan Photo: Saskia Lawaks / Courtesy of Etro

House of Etro: Medici Mindset Meets Hippie Counter-Culture

Founded in 1968 by Gerolamo “Gimmo” Etro and his antiques dealer wife Roberta, the then textile company had amassed a collection of 300 antique shawls — a treasure that remains one of the largest private collections in the world today.

Etro was born in a global counter-culture moment, a configuration of now-aging minds capable of connecting well decades later with a human like Harris Reed. Gucci’s Alessandro Michele would easily have navigated the beards and long hair of the late ‘60s hippie movement.

The sexual revolution was in full bloom at the moment of Etro’s birth, and Yves Saint Laurent was hardly the only man to be found wearing a caftan. As some young people became global vagabonds, design inspo ran rampant in the streets and cafes. Young people were learning about different cultures — yes, defined by the colonial confinement of minds — but still with deep roots in ancient cultures like Mesopotamia, a region that includes parts of present-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, only men wore caftans and related flowing robes.

Young designers always fancy themselves inventing a new look, rather than circling back through history to reinvent, refresh, reintroduce in updated fashion styles for a new era. Harris Reed is no different in knowing when the moment is ‘right’ to plunge into what suddenly seems like a fresh and revolutionary new look and way of dressing.