SHADOW DANCE

When researching this season Reed delved into the world of Victoriana, becoming intrigued by Nineteenth century shadow puppets and illustrations of these fairytale beings dancing around the room. These puppets showed a synergy with his own design process- for Reed the silhouettes always appear first, in a line-up of dramatic outlines.

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Once these silhouettes are defined, the process of placing fabrics and details commences, and Reed found himself treating the sketches like paper dolls, placing different patterns and prints on to the shapes and ‘dressing’ the figures.

In a departure from previous monochrome palettes Reed was determined to find a way to work with colour and print this season, and a chance meeting with luxury wallcovering experts Fromental led to a sustainable solution, repurposing and piecing together Fromental’s archive silk wallpapers as fabrics. 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. This tactile process of working with limited existing panels, pattern cutting and piecing back together to create something entirely new made the concept of paper dolls literal- like a child cutting up leftover wallpaper to make their doll a new dress.

There is also a nod to Victoriana in the silhouettes- corsetry continues to be developed with exaggerated proportions at the hips and shoulders emphasising the contrasting nipped in waists to create extreme silhouettes. Structure is 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 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. In collaboration with Roker, Reed’s platform H-Boots elevate the wearer to impossible heights.

ENDS.

With special thanks to: