The fashion world is evolving everyday. Even though we see repetitions and influences from the past decades every now and then, it is impossible to neglect the fresh faces in between the high fashion brands we constantly see in the magazines. This article will be focusing on Harris Reed, the gender fluid designer who came to the stage declaring his ambition for breaking barriers. The Central Saint Martins graduate manages to shine with his gender fluid designs. Not surprisingly, he gets recognized by the British Fashion Council, and magazines like GQ and Vogue. One of his latest masterpieces was the dress that Harry Styles wore for Vogue actually, which created a lot of controversy.
Harris’s and Harry’s collaboration is not new, however. Harry Lambert, Styles’ stylist, has caught Harris a long time ago. Reed has designed a couple stage looks for Harry’s first world tour. Even though Harris creates romantic looks, Styles manages to look like a rockstar on stage while being covered in ruffled blouses. The looks might remind you of a toned-down Freddie Mercury, David Bowie or Mick Jagger. Reed does not aim to be mediocre, neither does Styles. What we get out of this collaboration is a sight for sore eyes. This duo should not be surprising to the world since Harry Styles is becoming more open about wearing “women’s” clothing. As the singer himself says for The Face magazine “What is feminine and what is masculine… It’s like there are no lines anymore”. So, Harris Reed seems to be the perfect companion on his journey to become an extraordinary fashion icon. The authentic duo managed to catch Alessandro Michele’s, Gucci’s creative director, eyes too. Reed and Styles both modeled for Gucci’s gender neutral perfume Memoire D’une Odeur in 2019. Reed got a special internship from Gucci too, which became a stepping stone for his ascending career.
Harris is new to the fashion world, however, this doesn’t mean he hasn’t accomplished great things yet. From modeling for Gucci to dressing Naomi Campbell, Ezra Miller and many others, Reed is just starting to climb the ladders of becoming an iconic fashion designer. He also proved this with the amazing ensemble he created for Iman for the Met Gala. When he dresses a celebrity, Harris does not see the person wearing the brand “Harris Reed”, but rather reinventing it. He gives what he thinks to the garment and lets the people do what they want with it. Since Reed’s pieces are always unique and extravagant, it is exciting to see the people wearing them putting their own twist on it.
Harris had to deal with the quarantine in a slightly different way. As a senior in CSM, he needed to finish his final collection. The circumstances were hard but the talented designer managed to create massive beautiful headpieces and striking garments. Reed named his collection “Thriving in our Outrage” and explains that the collection was inspired by escapism. He does not want people to fall to the trap of following trends but wants them to openly and fabulously be themselves. Since CSM could not have the fashion show Harris came up with a unique presentation idea: The garments were transferred to the computer and they were made into gifs, so that the audience could see movement too. He also focused on creating cohesive backgrounds to the clothing. The project was shared and loved by many people on social media. His looks speak for themselves. From the platform boots -which were worn by Miley Cyrus recently- to the leopard print hats, Harris makes sure that everything he does showcases a piece of them. It is becoming easier to look at a garment and say that it was made by Harris, which is a hard thing to achieve at such a young age.
Harris is also a vocal advocate on today’s issues. He says that the garments he creates might not have writings on it but he still has statements in them. Harris questions norms and the way people see clothes. “I would never create something just because it’s beautiful. It has to have a deep purpose” the young designer says for GQ. Reed openly supports the LGBTQ+ community and tries to remove the stigma around gender fluid clothing too. As a person who has struggled to find the “label” for himself, Reed believes that you do not have to be glued down to one thing and the same goes for clothing too. He takes a big step at the fashion industry by not creating collections for men and women separately but making clothing that can be worn however that person wants to. “There should not be men’s and women’s clothing; it should be fluid clothing. I think there should be this idea that you pass down clothes generation to generation—your daughter, to her trans daughter, to her son, to her nonbinary kid” Harris says. The designer also mentions this concept while describing his brand’s identity “Romanticism gone nonbinary”. Reed’s vision enables people to have fun with clothing. It lets people be themselves in a unique way. Apparently, this talent and vision Harris has does not go unnoticed by the public either. One of his recent collections was sold out very quickly, which is not common for such a young designer. Especially the Harry Styles fans are on the lookout for anything Harris does, which increases his popularity too.
“I just want to keep doing what I love, continue spreading my message and hopefully make peoples’ days brighter” the quote actually explains a lot about the designer. Reed is a young person who is finding his way in the modern world by doing what he loves. He does not believe that a clothing company needs to make clothes to be a brand. As the fashion world evolves we also see that the vision, the statements and the way the brand introduces itself explain a lot about him besides his clothes. Harris is a part of the evolution. We are sure that we will be hearing more from the promising designer in the near future.