Get ready for “femininity magnified” in Nina Ricci, brought to you by her new creative director Harris Reed.
The French fashion house, controlled by the Spanish group Puig, has selected the lively British-American talent to write its next chapter.
Reed, 26, becomes the youngest designer to take creative helm at Nina Ricci, founded in 1932, and the second to carry the torch for genderfluid fashion.
Described by Ricci as “bold, daring and explosive”, the designer is expected to present his first Ricci collection early next year and “bring new perspectives on the archives and long-standing craftsmanship of the house”.
Since graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2020, Reed has quickly built a reputation for decadent designs and trendy theatrical events with elaborate sets and live performances by the likes of Sam Smith and Adam Lambert.
Her sophisticated and grandiose outfits have been worn by the likes of Iman, Emma Watson, Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, and Lil Nas X.
On Tuesday, Launchmetrics released data showing that Lil Nas X’s spectacular feathered Harris Reed look at the recent MTV VMAs generated $3.3 million in media shock value.
In a statement, the London-based Reed said he was “honoured” to join Nina Ricci “with her treasure chest full of glamour, history and power ready to be explored”.
“I am really excited to challenge the landscape of what femininity means in fashion and beauty in such an iconic house,” he added.
A Harris Reed look from their exclusive spring 2023 collection.
Courtesy of Marc Hibbert/Harris
The Parisian house has been left without an artistic director after the departure last January of Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, the design duo behind the Botter label. Winner of the 2022 ANDAM Fashion Award, Botter is known for her gender-fluid clothing rooted in Caribbean culture.
Now everything has changed at Nina Ricci, who earlier this year also welcomed a new CEO.
WWD was first to report on May 16 that Edwin Bodson, formerly global business director for JW Anderson in London, was joining the fashion and beauty brand. Bodson succeeded Charlotte Tasset, who left Nina Ricci a year ago.
“As a gender-fluid designer who rejects norms in a quest for freedom, Harris’s singular vision of magnified femininity will extend through Nina Ricci,” Bodson commented.
Most famous for its fragrances. Nina Ricci has seen a variety of fashion designers come and go in recent years, including Guillaume Henry, Peter Copping, Nathalie Gervais, Massimo Giussani, James Aguiar, Lars Nilsson and Olivier Theyskens.
The house said it “appreciates the freedom to invite talented voices to co-create ‘l’air du temps’, the French term for ‘the spirit of the times’, and also the name of Nina Ricci’s most famous and iconic fragrance. , its swirling bottle topped with two doves.
Source: wwd.com