This London Fashion Week was a very special one for Harris Reed who was on the official schedule for the very first time. The designer – who presented on Thursday evening in the Tanks of the Tate Modern – sent over-the-top dramatic silhouettes down the catwalk and emphasised the upcycling of materials.
"This season’s collection is really near and dear to my heart," Reed told me ahead of the show, which he named 'Encore'. "Being able to showcase my collection alongside so many brands I have looked up to for so long, to be on the official schedule, has been a really exciting next step for my brand. I feel this especially in the times that we’re in right now, it’s amazing for all these designers to come together and show the camaraderie that we have as a city."
Theme and inspiration
"This collection rolls on from last season where I wanted to take sustainability and the reusing of materials to new heights," he explains. "I have a desire to push my team to use found materials and bring them to a couture finish – it is so special to use this material that has such a history and be able to give it a second life."
For this recent collection, Reed spent the last six months searching around the UK, Europe and beyond in secondhand shops and at car boot sales to retrieve hidden gems.
"Some of these pieces are 300 years old – we have a lot of 17th and 18th Century pieces and some 19th Century tablecloths, headboards, draperies; pieces that were in an attic and we are bringing them onto the body in a demi-couture way."
It was a small collection – just 14 looks – and this gave Reed the opportunity to really let each fabric found determine the design.
"I could let each piece of material speak to the silhouette that it was going to live upon," he explained. "A lot of the upholstery materials have taken a more structured shape on the body, more sculptural, and slightly more rigid silhouette, but then the Venetian tablecloth material has been draped and almost cut to the bias in places, so we have really allowed the fabric to dictate what the silhouette was going to be. But always, the overarching theme in all my collections is romanticism, Victoriana and London theatre."
Hero pieces
"The opening piece is made from these beautiful old tablecloths which have been meticulously crocheted together, and we've made this really over-the-top jacket. For me, this really is us elevating our craftsmanship. And then I also love the finale, which is a white-and-pink Grecian look, that is quite a literal stance of what it was originally – a pair of curtains. It is drape reimagined, seen in a whole new light."
The setting
Reed headed back to the Tate Modern this season. "The Tate has been such a great supporter of my brand," he says. "In the Tanks at the Tate Modern, we have complete control of the space so we can really create a theatre there."
Who was there?
Kate Beckinsale, Ellie Goulding, Saffron Hocking and Erin O'Connor were among the names on the front row.
The message
"The mood of fashion right now is a little bit sombre and in a little bit of a scared place, I believe," Reed said. "With retailers going down, some brands skipping over fashion week, I think it is more important than ever to push performance and to push theatre – we have to own what London is. Look at Westwood, look at McQueen, look at the people that have walked before me and my other contemporaries. London is about showmanship. Having the show has really helped to draw attention to my brand so we need to keep London on the map!"
