Sam Smith’s inflatable latex suit was the talk of the red carpet at this year’s Brit Awards. Its designer is also a latex farmer in India, who reveals it was inspired by his dog.
It’s been a busy week for fashion designer Harri.
He got the call to supply a red carpet outfit for Smith just five days before Saturday’s glittering award ceremony.
“They [Smith] reached out to me on Monday, asking if I could create something custom-made for the Brits,” Harri tells the BBC.
“I was a bit scared because it’s not enough time.
“It usually takes four to five weeks because it’s all handmade. It took me a day to think about the logistics of everything.
“So I gave confirmation on Wednesday that I could make this work and we finished it an hour before the red carpet!
“And since then, I’ve tried to catch up on my sleep.”
His rest will be short-lived, however.
Next Monday, Harri (whose full name is Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai) has a show at London Fashion Week.
“I’m still working out the collection. I had to hold everything for one week to do Sam’s outfit. But I’m very, very happy. I’m used to the work schedule,” he says.
So how did the singer hear about Harri, who originally hails from a village in Kerala, India?
“They came across my pieces in Perfect magazine in November,” he explains.
In fact, Harri’s inflatable couture was first revealed during an MA show at London College of Fashion in 2019.
By the following year, similar designs for his MA graduate collection were attracting attention. He was asked to join the British Fashion Council’s Newgen scheme, “to help young designers showcase until we can do it on our own”.
Fast forward to awards season 2023, and Harri’s design has gone viral.
While some noticed a similarity between Smith’s outfit and one of David Bowie’s famous ensembles, Harri says the inspiration actually came from his beloved pooch.
“The idea about creating a silhouette came from my dog. He’s a small dog – it was the thought of seeing me from his angle [on the ground looking up].”
The design based on his dog’s-eye distorted view of enlarged legs and arms has divided opinion, but Harri says he doesn’t take any criticism to heart.
“It doesn’t bother me, no,” he says. “I’m used to it because my graduate collection had a similar reaction.
“I’m passionate about making something that makes people think and talk and discuss.”
All the balloon-style designs are made from latex and Harri reveals something I’m not expecting – he has a second job as a latex farmer.
“I have a small plantation back in my home town. Me and my dad do the latex farming.
“The raw material, we export it here and it becomes latex. It’s used for so many things.”
He says it took several months to master the process of creating designs from the material.
“It’s a therapeutic process to go through, cutting everything and sticking everything and seeing it all take shape, the moulding.”
How does a young boy from rural Kerala get into the fashion industry?
“The place where I come from is a very small village and you don’t see clothing as a statement [there]. You just wear it for practical reasons.”
But he says his father was into “drawing and sketching” when he was young, which exposed him to art “and visualisation”.
“Kerala is known for nurses and doctors and IT… but I wasn’t good at that. So this [fashion] was an escape.”
Competitive bodybuilder
Harri has not only been a latex farmer and fashion designer.
“I started practising something else while I was doing fashion,” he says. “I got into bodybuilding. I started practising that for nearly five years.
“I competed twice and then I realised bodybuilding is something I would love to do… but unfortunately it’s not something that’s sustainable. So, I quit.”
That was during his final year of undergraduate study in India before he moved to London to go to fashion college.
What we all really want to know is, how do you get an outfit like Smith’s on?
Harri says you can either put it on and then inflate or inflate before and and then put it on. The choice is yours.
“A lot of people have this question. They’re just like trousers. You can move. You can do a lot!”
Source: BBC