London Fashion Week began in bona fide Hollywood style on Thursday night, as Florence Pugh walked towering platform heels into the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall.
At Harris Reed’s AW23 show, the Don’t Worry Darling actress appeared under spotlights reciting a piece of spoken word. “Whether for an actor or simply a performer on the stage of life, the art of dressing up allows us to express who we truly are,” she said, in a high-slit, harlequin sequin skirt, corset top and halo-disc headpiece. Embrace the “lamé and sequins of life — because all the world’s a stage,” she concluded.
It was a Shakespearian start to a show that piled on the drama. Reed, 26, was strict with his colour palette and fabrics, only using gold lamé, once old theatre curtains; black velvet, which was deadstock; and silver sequins that “just worked so well,” he said post show. But in his silhouettes, the US designer flourished.
Tight fitted gowns exploded into billowing fishtails, puffball miniskirts held their form around strutting legs, and velveted foam structures acted as headboards behind sultry models. The line-up was nothing short of Baroque.
“There’s a bit of Henry Moore, and a bit of pageant girl,” Reed said, amid a flurry of models, his mother, fiancée and photographers who mingled with woman-of-the-hour Pugh backstage. “She is the most amazing actor at the moment, and she really loved the idea of something that felt much more than an up-and-down catwalk.”
Models walked in the round to the score of two cellists, once again proving the desirability of Reed’s signature gender fluid aesthetic. Flared trousers and peaked lapel jackets followed sparkling, diamond patterned catsuits, and a disco-gothic bride came in a cut-out, metallic gold frock and trailing black mesh veil.
“I think London Fashion Week needs a bit more drama. I think we get overlooked sometimes,” Reed said. “It’s a very American showmanship of — let’s make a big moment. I am unapologetically myself.”
These were garments made solely for the red carpet, and his client list which counts Harry Styles, Iman and Lil Nas X will be watching. At the show, Jodie-Turner Smith and Honey Dijon joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Lisa Rinna in applauding his efforts. “We need this right now,” said Rinna. “We need glamour, we need this sort of star power.” Also sat front row was activist Munroe Bergdorf, model Erin O’Connor, and influencer Camille Charriere.
For all its eccentricity, the collection still felt DIY with unpolished edges. This was made in Reed’s small London studio, not the ateliers of Paris, he explained. In three weeks, the 2020 Central Saint Martins graduate will present his debut collection as Creative Director of Parisian house Nina Ricci.
“Harris Reed is about the drama. It has the gothic undertones of England, and that theatre which Paris doesn’t have,” he said.
