Harris Reed - New Collection Exclusively on Vogue.co.uk

Photographer: Marcus Schaefer; Styling: Harry Lambert; Make-up: Terry Barber; Hair: Ryan Mitchell; Set Design: Lisa Jahovic; Casting: Nachum Shonn; Models: Eduards @ Sage Management, Sage @ Kate Moss Agency

Ethereal, Romantic, Gender Fluid: Harris Reed On The Transformative Power Of Make-Up

By Hannah Coates

Photographer: Marcus Schaefer; Styling: Harry Lambert; Make-up: Terry Barber; Hair: Ryan Mitchell; Set Design: Lisa Jahovic; Casting: Nachum Shonn; Models: Eduards @ Sage Management, Sage @ Kate Moss Agency

The most iconic looks of our time are so for their clever - and awe-inducing - blend of both fashion and beauty. No one knows it better than third year Central Saint Martins student, Harris Reed, who has designed some of Harry Styles' frill-filled stage outfits in the past. Now, Reed has a new collection and worked with make-up brand MAC Cosmetics and Terry Barber, their director of make-up artistry, on the looks.

“I wanted to transport people to my ‘future’, to a place where I see us all living in a fluid, romantic, and truly expressive free space,” Reed told Vogue. “Feathers, crystals, silk organza and jacquard suits and gowns on top of matching trousers all play to enhance my vision. I wanted to play around with silhouettes that were bold and structured, but also use as many sheer and nude materials to play on the strength that comes from the complete vulnerability that one can portray by showing different aspects of the body.”

Reed’s onus is on the beauty of gender fluidity, with make-up as much a part of each ensemble as every feather, structured shoulder and jacquard. “Make-up plays the role of making a viewer believe what they’re seeing, giving the garment the voice it needs to catch your attention,” Reed says. From the golden wash of eyeshadow over one model’s eyelids to the wind-flushed cheeks, these are looks that do exactly that.

“It’s always great to work with designers who have a very specific view of beauty and, with Harris, that is a beauty where the usual perimeters of gender are very much undefined,” says Barber. “I’ve always enjoyed make-up which is about mood and nuance rather than obvious, highly technical details and Harris understands how the smallest tweak, from the texture of the skin to the staining of a lip, can tell a story and affect an image.”

No stone was left unturned in pursuit of beauty looks that would tell the Harris Reed story while enchanting the viewer. “We spent an hour speaking just about the skin and how we would use products to get there,” said Reed. The result? “A poetic beauty with a hint of theatre,” says Barber. “It was the perfect canvas for the glam romanticism of Harris’ collection: a milky, ethereal skin with a touch of theatre via a ruddy flush on the lips and cheeks.” Both reference Tilda Swinton in Sally Potter’s Orlando as inspiration.

For the dewy glow over skin, Barber mixed MAC’s iconic Face and Body Foundation with their Silver Strobe Cream. Meanwhile, he created the flushed look by rubbing the brand's Powder Kiss lipstick in A Little Tamed onto both lips and cheeks, avoiding any strict lines for a romantic effect.