Billy Reid has shiny new management and, with it, a polished new look. The scruff-chinned, Southern-drawling charmer, who’ll surely never move his home base out of Florence, Alabama, nonetheless swung through his second home of New York (where he has two stand-alone stores, among several more nationwide) to showcase his rustic yet refined vision of menswear and, increasingly, womenswear.
Reid said that this season he took his style cues from two sources. The first was the lakeside cabin he’s renovating, bringing together an eclectic mix of modern materials set against the lush forest and calm water of the natural surroundings. The second source was the setting of his last Shindig festival—an annual celebration of folk music, Southern cuisine, and other local fare. That setting was the Rosenbaum House in Florence, the only Frank Lloyd Wright–designed home in Alabama. It informed a fuzzy angora sweater that had the look and feel of a tapestry Reid discovered in the house, as well as an illustrated tiger motif that found its way onto several knits and blankets casually tossed over the shoulder.
Reid also conveyed an advanced texture story, experimenting with softened suedes, quilted nylons, mohair knits, nubby boiled wools, and cotton coatings. In all, this was a relaxed melange of high and low, deftly balanced in a gently off-kilter palette of tobacco, maple, emerald, and cayenne. Two excellent split-wool plaid topcoats, for him and for her, drove home Reid’s new message of country luxury.
