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Harris Reed Fall 2024 London Fashion Week

“Harris’s creative spirit and passionate humanity have been inspirational to us both in this collaboration. This journey has reminded us of the joy inherent in the process of making.”

We're absolutely thrilled to collaborate with Harris Reed on his latest collection SHADOW DANCE. We deeply admire his visionary approach to design and fashion. His style, characterised by a bold and avant-garde aesthetic blending historical references with contemporary flair, aligns perfectly with our ethos. Reed's vision is all about breaking down gender barriers in fashion, embracing fluidity, and celebrating the beauty of self-expression through opulent fabrics, exaggerated proportions, and intricate detailing. Images Marc Hibbert

When researching this season Reed delved into the world of Victoriana, becoming intrigued by Nineteenth century shadow puppets and illustrations of these fairy-tale beings dancing around the room. These puppets showed a synergy with his own design process- for Reed the silhouettes always appear first, in a line-up of dramatic outlines. Once these silhouettes are defined, the process of placing fabrics and details commences, and Reed found himself treating the sketches like paper dolls, placing different patterns and prints on to the shapes and ‘dressing’ the figures.

In a departure from previous monochrome palettes Reed was determined to find a way to work with colour and print this season, and our chance meeting led to a sustainable solution, repurposing and piecing together archive silk wallpapers as fabrics. Paper backings were sponged away from precious single remaining vintage panels of hand painted and embroidered wallpaper, some of which had over four hundred hours of embroidery work, showing a couture level of craftsmanship. This tactile process of working with limited existing panels, pattern cutting and piecing back together to create something entirely new made the concept of paper dolls literal- like a child cutting up leftover wallpaper to make their doll a new dress.

Carefully curated from our extensive archive, the pieces selected for this collection represent a fusion of experimentation, prototypes, and beloved favourites from their signature collection. The result is an aesthetic that pays homage to centuries-old traditions but bears the unmistakable imprint of Fromental's visionary outlook, evoking a sense of tradition steeped in richness yet uniquely our own.

Together, Fromental and Harris Reed weave a narrative that transcends time, melding tradition with innovation, and bringing forth a collection that embodies the spirit of creativity and craftsmanship in its purest form.

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