Billy Reid has moved a lot in the course of his career: first from his home state of Louisiana to Texas; then on to Los Angeles and New York City. Since 2001 he’s been happily settled in Florence, Alabama. While designing his spring 2021 collection his thoughts drifted back to California, to the house he shared on Manhattan Beach, and also to the culture shock of having a new job and living in a new place.
“I was kind of insecure when I got there,” Reid said on a Zoom call. “I talked a little different than everyone, my clothes were a little different.” By the time he left for the East Coast Reid was at peace with being different and doing things his own way—and that remains his M.O. today. Living all around the country, Reid mused, has left him with “a full perspective of what Americana can be.”
For spring, Reid and team have given his customers a mostly “seasonless” collection. “We try to make things that definitely are going to last from a style perspective,” he said. One way they do it is by referencing the brand’s archive, revisiting and tweaking “hero” pieces, like a suede duster or a denim shirt. Making something like a men’s cardigan or a zero-waste woman’s caftan distinctively Reid is not so much about the silhouettes, but the materials they are made of. “We develop the textiles, so they’re ours and that creates a point of difference.”
Even over Zoom it’s clear that the collection’s selling point is the hand of the fabrics. Also clear is that the menswear is bolder than the more staid womenswear pieces, which have a sort of one-size-fits-all feeling. A persimmon suit with a boxy fit gave the women’s offering a breath of fresh air, not to mention inspiration to move on from lockdown’s loungewear. Its equivalent on the men’s side was a pair of high-waisted trousers with an asymmetric closure. Whether teamed with a denim shirt or a crisp white tuxedo jacket (Reid opted for both), the pants had a bit of 1930s jauntiness: different, in the best way possible.
