«I measure my success by cultural impact,» interview with Harri

His designs envelop the body and expand into the air like multiform balloons, but Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai, known in the art (and as a brand) as Harri, is a creative with his feet on the ground. Thanks to his talent in pattern making and a past in bodybuilding, Harri has made a name for himself with his original approach to creating revolutionary and alien shapes of garments crafted in very few color variants. Why so few variants? There are two reasons: the first is that he is colorblind, the second is that the primary material he uses, latex, is only supplied to him in sample productions, hence in black. Then comes the creation of the actual garments: in the past, Harri drew inspiration from bodybuilding, even trying to imagine a collection from the point of view of his pug. But for the SS25 collection, showcased at the recent London Fashion Week, the designer looked outside his studio: «I was taking a break and started looking at the trees», recalls the designer. «There are two of them, but they are joined at the root and are effectively one». From that image came some of the most striking looks from his latest show, outfits designed for a pair of twins who moved in unison down the runway. With dresses that hugged the models, emphasizing their curves, and details like nipples and abs, with folds and bulges flowing over the hips and shoulders like transparent liquid, the brand's first womenswear collection showcased Harri's talent for designing for the female body. As he tells us, he started as a menswear designer («I began studying fashion by deconstructing my own clothes», he said) but womenswear makes him feel freer.  

Among Harri's most sensational designs is surely the look worn by Sam Smith at the 2013 Brit Awards, one of the designer's most controversial works but also one of the most representative of his style. With a practice that spans both the fashion and art worlds, the Indian designer's garments are the product of the union of two basic concepts: Harri's expertise in pattern cutting and a careful study of form and perception. Despite collaborating with artists and figures such as Bad Bunny, Tommy Cash, and Jordan Barrett in the past year, the decision to debut in womenswear represents Harri's attempt to maintain his artistic integrity without compromising the commercial value of his designs. «That’s fashion, isn’t it? Merging business and art», he tells us. Since the brand's founding in 2017, Harri has fought to create a strong artistic identity, but then came the time to think about the business side of the company. «It is really difficult to make menswear with the kind of wacky things we do», Harri admits bluntly. «I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall all the time», he adds: «men aren’t very open-minded when it comes to clothing, and breaking stereotypes is a big risk». Especially for an emerging brand, one might add, yet Smith’s latex look is still talked about today. 

When speaking about his craft, Harri doesn’t like to call himself an artist or a designer. «You can call me anything, I’m happy», he says, observing that his figure lies at the intersection of the two spheres: on the one hand, mastery is needed, on the other, imagination. And while it may be difficult to think of fashion as art because it’s too practical, Harri thinks differently. «Fashion is much more influential and impactful than art», he states. «Because the audience who appreciates art is very small, but the audience who appreciates fashion is much broader. In that way, it's much more liberating for me to exist in fashion, although I do art». Accepting himself as an artist was difficult for Harri, he shares, but he finally feels he has reached the balance he was looking for. «Whatever I do now, whether it’s a commercial or an artistic collection, it’s all one. Whatever I do is my art». In this light, it becomes easier for the designer to find a guiding question for each project: «How much can I impact the people around me? How can I build a bigger community?»

The self-awareness that Harri has developed over these seven years at the helm of an independent brand is also reflected in how he relates to the fashion industry. It’s an industry that will never change, he says, so the only thing he can do is improve the system in which he operates. «I have a good culture in my workspace, I have two beautiful people who work with me», says the designer, who has recently been collaborating with two recent graduates who, like him years ago, are eager to learn by working. «Sharing is the biggest happiness in my life». Together with his business partner, who was once his best friend but is now «something more», Harri is working on building a cohesive community for the brand, a work of consistency that, for him, is worth more than anything else. «It’s really difficult being a designer in this time of celebrity endorsements and big marketing stunts», he says, «people’s attention span is shrinking, and you’re expected to always do more, which is not very healthy». Harri's reflections, so wise and thoughtful, reveal all the optimism that the designer holds for the future, a positive vision of fashion that all emerging creatives, no matter how pressured they feel by the public and industry expectations, should cultivate. But Harri doesn’t want to be called a realist. «My work is fantasy, it's not based on reality. I don’t have dream projects but I dream about my work». Then he adds, «the twins were a dream, the triplets were a dream: I need some time to dream».