Nina Ricci announced on September 21 the appointment of Anglo-American designer Harris Reed as head of the brand’s artistic direction. A new turn for the Parisian label, founded in 1932 by the Franco-Italian Nina Ricci and owned by the Spanish group Puig. Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, the duo at the head of the men’s ready-to-wear brand Botter and winner of the 2022 edition of the Andam prize, who have held these positions since 2018, announced their departure in January.
At 26, Harris Reed is to date the youngest designer to come into contact with the universe of the house, renowned for its ethereal and poetic universe. Losing momentum for a few years in the fashion landscape, whose successive passages of Guillaume Henry then the Botter duo were not enough to rekindle the desire for this brand, the house intends with this appointment to confront to the challenges of the time to which the younger generation is particularly attentive, in particular questions relating to gender identity. Harris Reed himself describes his theatrical and flamboyant creations as “gender-fluid”.
“It is an honor for me to join the Nina Ricci house, with its treasure chest filled with glamour, history and power, ready to be explored. I am very excited to challenge the landscape of femininity through fashion and beauty in such an iconic house”he said.
The Harry Styles sensation for “Vogue”
Son of an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and a former model, Harris Reed graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins school in London in 2020. He created a surprise when he was chosen by Anna Wintour, director of the vogue American, to dress singer Harry Styles in the pages of the December 2020 issue. Her crinoline and tulle skirt worn over a classic jacket caused a sensation. “When I created this look, I wanted to be a little ironic, do a little English humor, like having half an amazing ball gown and half a Savile Row suit with a shoulder of the 1970s »then explained the creator to the magazine.
He also stood out at the Metropolitan Museum gala in New York in September 2021, by dressing model Iman in a sumptuous crinoline punctuated with golden feathers, designed in collaboration with the duo Dolce & Gabbana.
In parallel with this appointment, the Nina Ricci house has also recruited a new general manager, the Briton Edwin Bodson, who worked for the Haider Ackermann and JW Anderson houses. “I’m thrilled to be a part of this new era and to welcome Harris as Nina Ricci’s new creative director. As a stylist with fluid gestures rejecting norms in a quest for freedom, Harris’ singular vision of magnified femininity will extend throughout Nina Ricci’s ensemble,” declares the person concerned.
The first Nina Ricci collection signed Harris Reed will be presented in early 2023.