In the new season of Emily in Paris, when Emily Cooper arrives at a masquerade ball wearing a black-and-white striped catsuit-gown hybrid, a cape, and a wide-brimmed hat, there is only one designer who could have been behind the dramatic look: Harris Reed.
In fact, Nina Ricci’s creative director met Lily Collins, who plays the American publicist known for her flamboyant fashion choices in the hit Netflix show, during his first week at the French fashion house back in 2022. “Lily came to the office, and I remember showing her the archive and looking at all these stripes and this black and white palette,” Reed – whose debut collection for the brand featured bold, monochrome stripes – told British Vogue. “I remember her sending images to [Marylin Fitoussi], Emily in Paris’s costume designer, and she was just very excited about it.”
Naturally, Fitoussi and Collins turned to Reed when they needed a show-stopping look for season four, with Truman Capote’s infamous Black and White Ball from 1966 being a key source of inspiration. “The brief that I was given from both of them was to make a strong impact, have something that felt quite iconic,” the designer explains. “I loved that when you look through these iconic images of all these insanely fabulous guests at the ball, it was about really claiming space with very architectural shapes.”
A black and white striped dress, worn to the ball by Babe Paley’s daughter Amanda Carter Burden, was an important reference – with that look itself believed to have been worn on stage during the Broadway production of My Fair Lady. In fact, Audrey Hepburn’s Eliza Doolittle also featured on Reed’s moodboard. “It became quite apparent that Hepburn was going to be a key inspiration for Emily’s looks in the show, so I knew we had to bring the drama with a hat,” he continued.
In the end, Reed opted for a modern take on both looks in the form of the graphic catsuit while offering an update on the bustle via a voluminous cape skirt. The sleek hat, meanwhile, was a nod to Eliza Doolittle while remaining true to the millinery style that the designer has been known for since his university days.
For Reed, having his first custom costume appear on screen has been a dream come true. “It’s a pinch-me-moment,” he said. “It was beautiful because it felt really organic. I related a lot to [Emily], being an American Brit in Paris, and being constantly the person that has big dreams, and goes about things in my own way.” Both in fashion and in life, you can’t deny that Emily Cooper – like Reed – marches to the beat of her own drum.
This post first appeared in British Vogue.
