London Fashion Week: Harris Reed's nonbinary elegance

London Fashion Week opens Thursday with designer Harris Reed's striking silhouettes celebrating gender-fluid fashion, kicking off a slimmed-down schedule with several absentees.

The queer British-American designer and creative director at Nina Ricci will showcase designs from his eponymous label, which he describes as "Romanticism Gone Nonbinary," in one of the most electrifying shows of the LFW Autumn-Winter 2025 calendar.

Reed's distinctive, theatrical designs, often involving wallpaper panels and even vintage upholstery, are set to descend on the runway at London's iconic Tate Britain art gallery.

The 28-year-old designer behind the tulle skirt Harry Styles wore on the famous Vogue US cover in 2020 has caught the eye of celebrities from Lil Nas X to Adele and Beyonce.

His fan base grew further last year when he styled actress Lily Collins in a viral black-and-white striped catsuit for the popular TV show "Emily in Paris."

From Friday morning, regulars of the event organized by the British Fashion Council (BFC) will take over runways, including Erdem, Simone Rocha, Richard Quinn, and Roksanda, before closing with the Burberry show on Monday evening.

The brand, with its iconic tartan print, is experiencing a difficult period. Rumors are circulating about the departure of its creative director, Daniel Lee, who arrived a little over two years ago and has struggled to modernize the house.

According to several media reports, Lee could be replaced by English designer Kim Jones, who left Dior Men at the end of January after seven years.

One confirmed absence from London's runways will be JW Anderson, the label by Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, who is also the creative director at the Spanish fashion house Loewe.

The timing is likely not a coincidence, with the designer reportedly poised to take the reins at Dior.

Anderson, named the 2024 Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, was also absent during the men's fashion weeks in Milan and Paris, where Loewe, owned by LVMH, usually showcases.

'Challenging time'

For the first time this year, young designers participating in the BFC's NEWGEN program must describe how their collections comply with minimum sustainability standards.

The BFC, which funds this incubator for emerging talent, is following in the footsteps of the smaller, eco-conscious Copenhagen Fashion Week, which has adopted the policy since 2023.

This new framework will eventually be rolled out across all LFW brands.

The BFC also announced in November that it would ban the use of wild animal skins, such as alligator or snake skins, following its ban on fur in 2023.

However, the move was largely symbolic since none of those showing at LFW used exotic skins.

Luxury brands that still use snake or crocodile skin leather, like Hermes, LVMH, and Prada, do not show at LFW. Big-name brands have expanded to Paris, Milan, and New York in the last decade.

This edition of LFW has been shortened by one day compared to the 2024 Autumn-Winter collections. It is marked by the absence of young designers like Molly Goddard and Sinead O'Dwyer.

Independent designers Dilara Findikoglu and Conner Ives, on the program this time, have limited themselves to one show a year. In contrast, others like 16Arlington and Tolu Coker have opted for a dinner party or presentation instead of a pricier runway.

BFC director Caroline Rush acknowledged it was "a particularly challenging time" for British brands, which have been dealt several blows following the pandemic, such as Brexit and last year's closure of the global luxury online platform Matches Fashion.

"We have been working very closely with those businesses and many more to help get them through this challenging period," she told AFP.

Rush, organizing her last London Fashion Week, said the first question she was asked when she took up the helm 16 years ago was whether London Fashion Week remained relevant.

It remains "relevant because, particularly in London, where we have so many small independent businesses, they need a platform to be able to show their work to global audiences," she said.

She will be replaced by Laura Weir, creative director of the British department store Selfridges and a former journalist who worked for British Vogue.

According to the Fashion Council's figures, the UK fashion industry directly employs 800,000 people and contributes almost £30 billion to the economy.