London Fashion Week AW24 Highlights: Harris Reed's Shadow Dance

Harris Reed delved into the world of Victoriana, having become intrigued by 19th Century shadow puppets, for his latest collection for London Fashion Week.

The trailblazing designer says the silhouettes are the first aspect of his design to appear and for this collection, so these dancing figures were an apt inspiration.

For this collection Reed also wanted to inject colour and print into his usually monochrome looks and a chance meeting with luxury wallcovering experts Fromental led to a sustainable solution, with Reed repurposing and piecing together Fromental’s archive silk wallpapers using them as fabrics.

To achieve this, 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.

A nod to Victoriana is also reflected in the silhouettes with corsetry developed with exaggerated proportions at the hips and shoulders emphasising the contrasting nipped in waists to create extreme silhouettes.

Structure was countered with volume; an oversized drape flows from a corseted waist, a ruched velvet skirt balloons from a sheer draped back dress, hand beaded curtains give movement to a fitted form, and a slim black gown is given an oversized feather trim.

Circular shapes have been a recurring theme since Reed’s graduate collection and are once more revisited – on the exaggerated round lapel and curved sleeves of a blue silk embroidered jacket, in his signature crinoline skirts, and on this season’s hats in collaboration with Vivienne Lake.

Another collaboration with Roker, led to the creation of Reed’s platform H-Boots designed to elevate the wearer to impossible heights.

This was another stand-out collection from a designer who embodies London Fashion Week's innovative, sustainable and creative spirit.

Read our recent interview "Harris Reed on the power of fluid fashion" here.