Charles Harbison Left Fashion to Save Himself. His Return Is Exactly What Fashion Needs

Lately, Charles Harbison has been feeling, as he puts it, light and playful.

The designer is in a much better place than he was in 2016, when he put his label, HARBISON, on hold for mental health reasons. Back then, he was one of the buzziest names in fashion; in the short time since he’d launched his namesake in 2013, the designer had landed his clothes on the backs of everyone from Michelle Obama and Ava DuVernay to both of the Knowles siblings (yes, Beyoncé and Solange).

Still, Harbison felt himself crashing. Citing “compounded brokenheartedness,” Harbison stepped away from the industry altogether.

The hiatus turned out to be for the best. Harbison relocated to Los Angeles and gave himself ample time to focus on personal growth; now he’s back like he never left. After easing his way back into the industry with a wildly popular Banana Republic collaboration, Harbison made his official return to New York Fashion Week this season with two separate collections: the relaunch of his namesake label and a debut collection for the new, genderless, “neo luxe sustainable fashion brand” SO.TY.

The designer kicked the week off with SO.TY. One of the clear highlights of New York Men’s Day, the inaugural collection was shown presentation style, with models milling about a stark white room, talking, laughing, and in one corner, casually walking on a treadmill. It was a strong introduction to the brand’s key design aesthetic: classic, everyday pieces elevated by their modern fit.

Hoodies were given deep scoop-necks and hung off the shoulders just so. Pants were mostly flared, and when they weren’t, they were loosely tapered. It wasn’t hard to see the designer’s background in architecture in his clothes; judging by chatter in the room last Friday, many were eyeing SO.TY’s reimagined bomber jacket, which fits around the chest in a subtle heart shape. Especially when shown in shocking fuchsia, it’s the kind of sleek update to a classic silhouette that will likely become one of the brand’s trademark pieces.

Further downtown, the designer was also presenting his new collection for HARBISON as part of the Black In Fashion Council’s Discovery Showroom, which showcased a decidedly more feminine approach to his namesake designs. The gowns and dresses on display felt like candy confections; even now, for a collection that also includes his first real embrace of blacks, he can’t help but circle back to color. “[HARBISON] is inspired by night gardens,” he explained during a walkthrough of his showroom. “It’s this idea of colors and florals that are alchemized at night. Saturated jewel tones that feel kind of moonlit, but are backed and contextualized by darks.”

Some of the designs Harbison showed had already been seen by the world. At the recently concluded Venice Film Festival, A-List actresses Tessa Thompson and Jodie Turner-Smith both wore HARBISON on the red carpet. The designer felt proud, mostly because, at its heart, his brand has always been about Black women. “We’ve been calling this dress ‘Alicia In Wonderland,’” he told me at one point, holding up a lavender party dress with hot pink and mint green panels on either side. “She’s no longer Alice. She’s Alicia.”

Harbison speaks passionately about his vision for the future of HARBISON, which he lovingly refers to as his “baby.” SO.TY, on the other hand, was just a temporary post, though he does have plans to incorporate the new techniques he’s developed while designing for that brand’s particular customer. “I’m looking at body diversity beyond just size inclusivity. I’m also thinking about different-sized breasts or no breasts, things like that,” he told me. “I’m looking for silhouettes that work across many different bodies. I’m wondering, ‘Do these shapes work across gender?’”

During a recent visit to his temporary showroom, Harbison spoke with Them about leaving the fashion industry to “focus on self-preservation,” his welcomed returned to the spotlight, the influence of Black women on his designs, and how his work with Banana Republic and SO.TY will influence his future work for HARBISON.

You’re back at New York Fashion Week after several years, and this time, you’re representing two different brands. Does that feel more complicated?

It's 100% more complicated. But for me, the complications have been worth it because, honestly, I've come to love having an expanse of product, for as many people as possible. Trying my hand at menswear was a nice rounding out of my customer catalog.

How did you get involved with SO.TY?

For SO.TY, I was just design-directing the launch. Now, all that energy moves into HARBISON.

When you walked me through these HARBISON pieces, you talked a bit about how you’re now thinking about ways to make your items more gender-neutral. Since your post at SO.TY is only temporary, can we expect you to more fully incorporate menswear and/or gender neutral looks into upcoming collections for your namesake?

100%. We're actually looking at that for the beginning of the year, so that there are some strong capsule pieces from “his” perspective. Again, we want to design for the sake of every customer and every gender identity, but we’re kind of coming at the market from two different points of view — a very feminine point of view and a more masculine point of view — and kind of allowing the two to meld together to cover that whole gamut.

You had been working pretty consistently during the mid-2010s, but then you took a break. As a designer operating in the cutthroat industry of fashion, I imagine it was difficult to “leave” because there must always be a fear about how you might come back when you’re ready. How did you make the decision to leave in the first place?

Frankly speaking, it was brokenheartedness. I had come to a point where I'd gone through a breakup, I lost a key investor, and then my grandmother passed away. It was this compounded brokenheartedness, and I couldn't figure out how to move forward, unless I just saved my life and saved my heart.

But I didn't feel like I could do that in New York, because it's too close in proximity to my work. So I moved to L.A., and moving to L.A. was like, I'm separating myself and allowing myself the space to focus on self-preservation. I just experienced a new kind of creativity out of that. Reapproaching the industry over the last few years has been nice because I feel like I am a bit lighter and a bit more playful. Those concepts really, in some ways, saved my life.

One of the first things you did after coming back was a collaboration with Banana Republic. Did working with another brand help you ease your way back into the spotlight?

Oh, it was wonderful. It was incredibly validating and it also affirmed the fact there was a customer waiting for this kind of product from me — and a customer at every market tier and in every size category, at that. That was really, really incredibly affirming.

The collaboration was slated to be quite small, but through the process of creating the product, it grew exponentially. So on the backend of it, I was like, “Okay, I think the market might be more fun and more open today for what I have, what I say, and what I do than it was even six years ago when I left.”

Both Jodie Turner-Smith and Tessa Thompson wore your looks at the Venice Film Festival. (Jodie even wore two.) How does it feel to be getting red carpet credits again?

I love those girls with all my heart. That's something I love about being in L.A.; it's the proximity to them. What I adore specifically about what those women do on the carpets, is they materialize the HARBISON woman in front of so many people, so immediately. Jodie is strong, intelligent, athletic, beautiful, poised, hyper-talented, and confident — and that typifies the HARBISON woman. So whether it's her, whether it's Cynthia Erivo, whether it's Tessa Thompson… I get to place clothing on all of those women and have them walk these carpets, so everyone gets to see [them and say], “Oh, wait. That's what HARBISON stands for." I love it.

I think it’s safe to assume that you obviously want every woman to gravitate toward your clothing, but I can’t help but to notice that the three women you just mentioned all happen to be Black. Does that add any additional layers of significance for you?

Well, I start with Black women because those are the first images of beauty I ever saw. It was my mothers, my grandmothers, my aunts. It was how they moved in clothing, how they approached beauty and approached make-up, how they were utilitarian and strong women, but also incredibly effeminate, and beautiful, and curvy. When I think about women and femininity, I start there.

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"Freedom, in my opinion, is the ultimate goal.”

So, with this collection, I started there as well. The palette, the inspirations, the stories, and the memories that I'm folding into these clothes are memories of those women. It's for the sake of every woman, and every person, and every customer. But, I want everyone to be clear that it starts with them. Although it is for everyone, the nucleus is what they did in the world — and what they did for me.

What do you hope these next few years for HARBISON look like?

Honestly, I hope the next few years are all about growth. I'm making sure that anyone who wants a piece of this world — of this kind of optimistic world that I'm building out — is able to get a piece. And I want that expansion to occupy menswear, like I said, but also accessories, beauty, home, what have you. I’m really just a product boy! I love beautiful things, and I want beautiful things to come from this brand, and for those beautiful things to get to whoever wants them. Because I don’t play games. No games!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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