News feed
NEW YORK CITY: “I’m running on very little sleep and I hope this cover up is working,” quips British-American designer Harris Reed, tracing his fingertips through his tumbling, auburn waves. It’s the eve of Met Gala Monday in Manhattan and just seven minutes prior to meeting at his hotel, the 26-year-old wunderkind politely texted to say he was in the shower and that he wouldn’t be a moment.
When he answered the door, his 6’4” figure was immaculately dressed: black flares, platform boots and a Schiaparelli white tee with two gilded brass trompe l’oeil nipples on it. How did he get ready so quickly? In the moment I am surprised, but when I sit down and learn of the pace in which Reed works—and speaks—I understand that getting things done quickly is indeed part of his superpowers.
Reed, who we now know dressed Ashley Graham at the today’s Met Gala, takes a breath when I ask him what it actually takes to create a piece to showcase atop the most famous staircase in the world.
“I actually love that I get to answer this question,” says Reed. “I was talking to my fiancé earlier and I was saying it’s like planning a wedding. There’s so many stages. I think a lot of people think, ‘Oh a dress arrives, she puts it on and goes on the runway—I mean the Met Gala stairs! [Laughs] To me, it’s the same thing!
“There’s the sketching process, you then have to send the sketch to Anna Wintour,” he continues. “You go back and forth with Anna personally—it’s very incredible how hands-on she is.”
“You show it to the talent—they have their opinions—you then go back to Anna,” Reed continues. “You then do the first initial fitting. Changes. Modifications. Then you fly to New York and do the first round of fittings with a full team, and then the second round with high jewellery, and then a third round with a glam team.
“It’s insane how much thought, care, emotion and exhibition-worthy iconic-ness goes into these literal five seconds on the Met Gala stairs.”
“It’s the most insane whirlwind process but I can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s so surreal and crazy.”
Reed—who is the creative director of French fashion House Nina Ricci, and the founder and creative director of his own eponymous brand Harris Reed—went viral in September of 2021 when he dressed Iman for the Met Gala. Inspired by the ballroom couture of America’s golden age, Reed and his team spent 400 hours making the incredible piece of art, and critics never forgot it. But, in our funny little world, does Reed feel pressure to live up to that moment?
“It’s been one of my biggest fears,” he admits. “Iman is [now] 67, she’s one of the first African-American supermodels, and she’s David Bowie’s wife. She, for me, embodied everything that was incredible. She took a chance on me and we just went massive.”
“When Ashley Graham reached out and said she wanted to work with me, she really embodied everything I stand for,” he continues. “She’s confident, she’s a curve supermodel, she’s an icon, she’s all about showing the beauty in everything. It felt very serendipitous.
“I remember sending her some really larger-than-life sketches and she was like, ‘f**k yes.’ It was love at first sight, she flew to London, my team glued and taped and pinned this thing together in 12 hours. Cut to now and I’m in New York City and the gown is done.
“It’s been surreal but it’s been a year of me kind of figuring out how I’m going to equal what I did with Iman. With Ashley, we really brought the drama.”
The theme of this year’s Met Gala is Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty and is a dedication to Lagerfeld’s unparalleled contribution to the fashion industry.
“Karl Lagerfeld is Karl Lagerfeld because when he was at Chloé, Fendi and Chanel, he always respected what the past had and brought this extraordinary relevance to the future,” says Reed. “The biggest lesson I have learnt from working on this year’s Met Gala is the ability to honour Karl Lagerfeld, and hopefully be able to bring a modernity and a fluidity and a modern day relevance.”
You can bet Reed will do it all on little sleep, and while wearing platform boots.
