If you know about Harris Reed, you know. And if you don’t? Well, keep up at the back. Reed is one of fashion’s most exciting new talents, his designs lauded for their sparkly romance, their craft and unbridled otherworldliness. Reed came to GQ‘s attention a couple of years ago while he was still at Central Saint Martins, his designs already imbued with a silhouette that was both modern and nostalgic, all washed with an achingly cool, non-binary LA energy: his aesthetic has darkness, light, glamour and a non-threatening sense of their own sexiness. His designs aren’t just gender-fluid, they’re like wearing liquid gold.
Fashion’s worst-kept secret is the fact that Reed has been working with Harry Styles for a couple of years now, making one-off outfits for the singer’s spectacular stage shows and offering the musician looks that seem in harmony with his renewed sense of self and megawatt style. Last week, when Styles’s lascivious, wanton, sweaty and damn good new song, “Lights Up”, was blasted out into the world, we noticed it was one of Reed’s bespoke designs that the artist had decided to wear for his second solo jaunt. As the video caught fire and went global, we called the ever-charming Reed to talk to him about working with Styles, how the outfit for “Lights Up” came about exactly and just how far he thinks Styles is willing to go with his new covetable gender-blurring aesthetic…
GQ: Hey Harris, nice talking to you again. How’s it going?
Harris Reed: Well, I have a stinking cold, which is the worst. Especially when you are supposed to be working and selling a collection, it can seem like it’s ruining your life. But it’s OK, I will get through it.
Congratulations on your design for Harry Styles’s outfit for “Lights Up”. You must be thrilled?
Thank you, I am really happy. And it’s cute as well that Harry made his little icon photo on Instagram an image of the outfit from the video. Quite pleased to say the least.
When did you first start working with Harry Styles?
My big connect with Harry goes back to Harry Lambert, his stylist, who was the first person I ever worked with and the first person who pulled in any of my clothes years ago. I had that relationship with him starting about two years ago and after a while [Lambert] told me, ‘I think you’re ready, even though you’re right at the beginning of your career, to meet this person…’ I pulled some designs together—I didn’t really know who it was at this point—but I put together some references. Jimi Hendrix and [David] Bowie and Mick Jagger—you know, just classic rock’n’roll iconic frontmen whom I could see in the designs. Then that’s when I heard that it was actually for Harry Styles.
Harris Reed’s bespoke outfit for Harry Styles’s Lights Up video.
Harris Reed