Deadwood for A Day's March: Harris, the Stylist
A Day’s March and Deadwood share a common goal – dressing those who shape culture, each in its own way. To mark our collaboration, we spent a day with five creatives in London and Stockholm, exploring their cities, their perspectives on creativity, and how they wear the new collection. Meet Harris, visual storyteller and stylist.
Harris is a visual storyteller who uses beauty and counter culture as a metaphor to explore stories that exist in the slipstream of popularism. The Harris Elliott studio practice spans the socio-politics of fashion and cultural identities through film, exhibition, design, and style. An international body of work with two decades of Anglo-Japanese iterative projects with significant visual and playful conversations exploring the sustainability of African diaspora narratives through the studio art practice and brand Le Tings. Harris has long-standing collaborations with Hublot Japan, Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, Kae Tempest, Kasabian and Takeo Kikuchi, and is an Associate Lecturer at Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins.
A DAY'S MARCH: How did styling come into your life? HARRIS ELLIOTT: Growing up I had cousins and uncles that dressed very well, I was desperate to be as cool as them, I distinctly remember their socks and fragrances being a thing. Being at university I studied interior architecture, my graphic designer friends introduced me to iD, the Face and Straight No Chaser, it was there that I saw others put clothes together, with discordance that I liked. I combined the spirit of my family members expression with an awareness of creating a look that had a graphic quality. Do you have to dig deep to find your creative nature, or do you feel it's natural to you? – I'm inspired by sooooo much when I step out of my home, it's very easy for me to store references and words from daily conversations that inform how I develop my ideas.
Is your work based on the way you see the world? – I often create work that responds to what is going on socio-politically or try to create narratives that need to exist because the world has overlooked amazing points of view or visual references. What was your first gig? – My first commission was from Judy Blame who asked me to make 6 yellow leather and feather headdresses for a commission he had to dress these models for a launch for Duckworth Publishing. Are there any trade secrets you can share with someone who is about to enter your field? – Be open to inspiration from different art forms and lifestyles outside of fashion to inspire what you do, your point of view is unique to you, to maintain this singular vision you have to immerse yourself with people and things that will ultimately challenge and surprise you. Make sure you maintain friendships outside of your industry as they help to ground you. Be willing to unlearn what you know in order to embrace new perspectives.
What’s the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned while navigating your career? – I would liken my journey to being a horticulturist. I've learned to be extremely patient, a career is for a long time not a season and that means somethings grow in weeks and somethings don't mature or bear fruit for years or even decades. It is remembering that these are seeds that I planted and nurtured and when the time was right, they grew. What is a work of art or creation that has changed your perspective? – Street Spirit video by Jonathan Glazer for Radiohead, after seeing that video I decided that I would one day want to create work that has a similar emotive quality. Do you believe your current self is who you are meant to be? – At the time of writing this, yes. LAUNCH INFO: The collection launches on March 14 on Kungsgatan 3 in Stockholm, 24 Berwick Street in London and online at adaysmarch.com. Subscribe to our newsletter for early access on March 11.
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