by The photo of Sam Smith on the red carpet at the UK’s Brit Awards has traveled the world and served as a catchphrase for thousands memes. The inflatable latex suit was designed by Indian breeder Harikrishnan, known as Harri, who was inspired by his dog to design the exaggerated silhouette. He is also responsible for planting the trees from which the latex is extracted in India.
It was just five days until the British Music Awards ceremony, last Saturday, when Harry received a special request: to design and make what Sam Smith would wear. “I was a little scared because there is not enough time. It usually takes four to five weeks because everything is done by hand,” he begins, speaking to the BBC.
Just planning and designing the outfit took more than a day. On Wednesday, he had the approval from the artist’s team and started working. The work was about to end one hour before the start of the red carpetwhere Sam Smith would become the highlight of the awards night. its singer unholy has been surprised by the disrespect in all the red carpets and the bar is constantly being raised.
Someone put the audio of Sam Smith walking over the red carpet and I can’t breathe ???????? #Brits2023 #BRITs #SamSmith pic.twitter.com/sziuX847Bm
– ??s?? ????small? | – ?? (@eds_afterglow) February 11, 2023
Now, Harry is trying to recover from the rush, but she has little time left. It is that next Monday he is presenting at London Fashion Week. “I’m still working on the collection. We had to put it off for a week to finish Sam Smith’s outfit. But I’m very happy. I’m used to this pace,” he promises.
Sam Smith reportedly learned about Harry’s work through a magazine last November. The creator, originally from Kerala, India, has lived in London since 2018, when he arrived in the UK to study Fashion Design Technology at the University of the Arts, according to LinkedIn.
In 2019, still during her master’s degree, she presented her first creations in inflatable latex. The success was such that, the following year, the British Fashion Council, which organizes fashion week, invited him to integrate the calendar intended for young designers, highlighted by the magazine fashion.
they create reflection
On social media, it didn’t take long to speculate about the inspiration for Sam Smith’s viral outfit. There were those who believed that Harry would have saved David Bowie’s famous looks, but in the end the explanation is much simpler. The creator designed the silhouette of the pants with his dog, Kai, in mind. “The idea to create the silhouette came from my dog. He is a small dog – I realized that he was watching me from his angle [a olhar para cima].”
That’s why the coordinate features a lot of bulk in the arms and legs, something that has been frowned upon since 2019 when it first introduced the silhouette. Criticism, however, does not bother him and is an inherent part of his creative expression, he assures: “I am passionate about creating something that makes people think and discuss, discuss.”
Many have also wondered how Sam Smith dressed, but the designer makes sure that the clothes are comfortable and can be inflated before or after the body. “It’s like pants. We can move and do everything,” he assures.
The material he uses for his creations comes from a family farm in India, from where he and his father extract the resin that will later give latex. “It’s used for many purposes,” he says.
Harry then gets involved in the process, which she describes as “therapeutic” from start to finish. He is the one who cuts all the material, flexes it and does the modeling. “Where I come from, a very small village, you don’t see clothes as a personal statement. We only use it for practical reasons,” he recalls. Fashion and art became her escape.
When he’s not planting latex or designing inflatable costumes, Harry can be found at the gym. He was once a professional bodybuilder, but now his priorities are different and he can be visited at runwayas early as next Monday.
