Harris Reed - Designer, Creative Director of Nina Ricci

[MulletProof]

I will never understand why there hasn't already been even just one big time fashion designer working at a major brand dressing men like women. Not one has the guts to do it.

Because fashion needs to sell and unlike most men, women tend to be judged on image so a bunch of men selling it wouldn’t exactly create seasonal hits. If this was to happen and in order to be truly honest with the message, it would need to place in menswear (just the way womenswear regularly presents women in traditional men’s clothes), and generally and for obviously sexist reasons, womenswear is what you fck with, you can even create entire worlds where women have a secondary role, but menswear is off-limits, it’s a ‘serious’ section where the sole act of consumining it is not frivolous at all but associated with success. You don’t see the equivalents of what you see in womenswear, you don’t really see butch lesbians getting cast there regularly, or transmen, or average height/overweight/balding men, so explicitly dressing men like women (and not just the once-in-a-blue-moon oh-so-scandalous androgynous collection)? would be nice to see that imo, it would provide a much needed perspective on the type of visuals male designers use womenwear for. But not going to happen, its main demographic can’t handle it..

 

[blueorchid]

Is the perfume out yet? Are there any reviews?

 

[imjustken]

Its main demographic can’t handle it..

I disagree with you there. Just think of the spending power of gay gender differing men who hang out with fellow gay gender differing men.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

We actually still need someone who will put a men in dresses and heels and make them walk the catwalk. That's gender fluidity.

It’s a facet of it, but I don’t think it’s the only form of it. And really, we’ve recently-ish seen this at Margiela and frankly, it’s exhausting. Sure it’s great for representation but all it looks and feels like is a novelty.

Gender fluidity requires a genuine honesty to it. And it can’t be one sided (“man in a dress with heels”). It’s naive, and short sighted. And also is a bit regressive, despite for fashion today it’d look performatively transgressive. I’d rather see items embodied by models and representatives well and look at them going “wow they look good in that, I need/want that” irregardless of gender identity as opposed to seeing a man in a dress with heels being told that’s what we need/want.

 

[tourbillions]

who buys his nina ricci? drag queens? Even that perfume bottle is so draggy.

 

[JohannesL]

Looking at the recent collection on their online store, the selection has improved, but everything looks like a bootleg 80s couture collection. The pieces are appealing, but they don't really have an identity of their own.

On top of that, there's so many synthetic blends. The worst is this €950 jacket whose composition reads like this: 32% polyamide, 28% virgin wool, 23% polyester, 17% acrylic. At this point, the virgin wool has become a wh*re.

source: my own drive
Lol, I think the version that our company produced 3 years ago is more stylish!

 

[imjustken]

Gender fluidity requires a genuine honesty to it. And it can’t be one sided (“man in a dress with heels”). It’s naive, and short sighted.

Agree but it's still the most controversial thing a man can wear to this day. Wig, makeup, heels, dress. Dressing and looking like a woman.

 

[imjustken]

I think most men that *want* to “dress like a woman” aren’t waiting for permission from a corporation to say it’s ok.

True but the fact these corportions still don't do it I think is a sign of internalized homophobia and transphobia. Also it's not just about permission.

 

[imjustken]

who buys his nina ricci? drag queens? Even that perfume bottle is so draggy.

That just sounds like you're hating on drag queens.

 

[imjustken]

I feel like the fact that what we call haute couture is basically high drag goes unrecognized. It was all made by men : Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Charles Frederick Worth, Thierry Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, the list goes on and on. The difference between them and drag queens is only that drag queens wear their own designs.

 

[imjustken]

If I want to dress like a woman, Why wouldn’t I just buy womenswear?

Men and women have different bodies. It's like saying women should just buy a suit from the men's tailors. You just erased Yves Saint Laurent's whole career, lmao. You're also going for Chanel, she took from the men's wardrobe and adapted it to women's bodies and whims.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

Agree but it's still the most controversial thing a man can wear to this day. Wig, makeup, heels, dress. Dressing and looking like a woman.

I mean yes and no though. We already have a huge drag and transgressively queer and androgynous culture that’s out there. Sure it isn’t in high fashion and as easily seen or identifiable (I’m talking beyond the more commodified and digestible reps of it), or in the scope of what we’re talking about here, but isn’t that for the better?

If I want to see that, I go look for it. I’m not going to ask a brand to do it for me for the sake of doing it. Maybe I’m lucky and surrounded but those that already do that so truthfully. It is a privilege of course, but for a high end/fashion brand to do it would seem counter intuitive to the culture or identity it is attempting to represent. Again, by all means it would be great to see. But would it be honest and genuine? Most likely no, and for that I don’t want to see it at all. To be pandering for the sake of novelty is patronising.

 

[blueorchid]

Sure it isn’t in high fashion

All those drag queens are fuming in their couture gowns right now!!

 

[tourbillions]

I feel like the fact that what we call haute couture is basically high drag goes unrecognized. It was all made by men : Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Charles Frederick Worth, Thierry Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, the list goes on and on. The difference between them and drag queens is only that drag queens wear their own designs.

Haute couture has nothing to do with drag costumes. Sure some can be avant-garde but its not necessarry for something to be called couture.

I am really not hating on drag queens, nina ricci has a rich history in high fashion but it wasn't draggy. Far from what this guy is doing to the house. Nothing wrong with wanting to dress drag queens but he can do it in his namesake. Sure, high fashion are always being referenced in Drag but they don't need to be making drag costumes themselves. Theres a fine line between costume and fashion, even when drag queens wear actual vintage/non-vintage designer clothes they would accesorize it to make it drag.

 

[KoV]

Men and women have different bodies. It's like saying women should just buy a suit from the men's tailors. You just erased Yves Saint Laurent's whole career, lmao. You're also going for Chanel, she took from the men's wardrobe and adapted it to women's bodies and whims.

To an extent. But it's not like everyone woman has Marilyn Monroe's body type and not every man has Chris Hemsworth's. It's already made to accommodate a range of heights, shapes, and sizes. Suiting or anything super form-fitting can be trickier and may need to be altered or in some cases just wouldn't always work, but that holds true for men wearing menswear and women wearing womenswear. Plenty of men wear womenswear pieces regularly.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

All those drag queens are fuming in their couture gowns right now!!

Sorry, not sorry queens…

But in all honesty, and nothing against drag and androgyny in high fashion (it’s fantastic when it works) but keeping a degree of separation maintains a better purity and honesty to things. I guess as well androgyny is more obvious in high fashion and easily done - going back to correct myself - but as well, the amount of times we’ve all seen attempts too where it’s just so eye rollingly blaaaaaah gets annoying.

 

[Kennnnn]

I wonder what you all think of Jordan Roth's style - as a (cis?) man who regularly wears haute couture designed for woman.

 

[JohannesL]

Woke.

 

[imjustken]

But in all honesty, and nothing against drag and androgyny in high fashion (it’s fantastic when it works) but keeping a degree of separation maintains a better purity and honesty to things.

I totally get where you're coming from. But I'm still frustrated. I don't often see in menswear the kind of beauty I see in womenswear. Maybe I need to look more into it but I just find it a waste that there are so many gay fashion designers that don't make clothes for other gay men like them, they just stick to making beautiful but gender-conforming clothes for women. Gay men wanting to blur gender lines are not a minority in fashion. So it's kinda sad that even in a field where we are the most, we're not free to be daring and push boundaries for ourselves, not for others. You should be the first person you design for. Dressing and designing is not some eternally selfless act of doing it for others while being content with vicarious experiences.

 

[imjustken]

I wonder what you all think of Jordan Roth's style - as a (cis?) man who regularly wears haute couture designed for woman.

Beautiful ! Stunning ! A vision of haute couture !