Models don’t go to war. Harris Reed’s latest collection, however, does. Not in the proverbial guns and butter sense, but in the spirit of fashionable unrepentance. Each ensemble from the February 2025 line is designed to take up space, to make as much noise as possible without compromise. Gowns are armored with gilded architectural structures, and protection is enhanced.

Courtesy of Harris Reed

Reed, drawn to punk references, finds a muse in the counterculture of rebellion and individual freedom, outfitting each of his opulent uniforms with golden weapons of form. Corsets transform into breastplates, surrealistic spikes and waves opening up and elongating silhouettes. Crinolines skirts create cages, voguish shields for the guarded. In a touch of fragility, archival embroidery samples are applied in glimpses, flashes of light, color, and texture shimmering along the body’s natural contours.

Courtesy of Harris Reed

Collaborating with luxury British lighting and furniture brand, Porta Romana, the British designer takes inspiration from their distinctive Urchin chandelier, a centerpiece on the runway ー the lavish light fixture hung in the showspace ー and the ensembles ー the Urchin fronds also grow from several garment structures, each one 3D modelled by Porta Romana in a flexible resin and hand-painted by their skilled artists in etched gold or electric blue. 

Courtesy of Harris Reed

In opposition to the collection’s gilded armor, a variety of elements usually hidden are, instead, boastfully expressed, imbuing a sense of vulnerability born out of inversion. The contours of the body are emphasized through layers of hand-painting and gold metal leaf applied by Porta Romana’s artists. Crinoline cages and corsets, once reserved as Victorian-era undergarments, now stand proudly as the garment itself, while structured, opaque deadstock tailoring is paired with sheer, fluid chiffon and tulle.

Courtesy of Harris Reed