When it comes to design inspiration, Lily Harris often takes a look in the mirror. “I try to think about pieces that I’d want in my closet—the silhouettes and the look,” says the 24-year-old designer behind the recently launched eponymous studio (her middle name is Stan). The online store features pieces in the aesthetic that’s quickly becoming known as Harris’s signature: easy shapes and clean lines, and oversize items layered with close-fitting, ultra-feminine pieces. Many of the pieces consist of breezy silhouettes, light fabrics, and angled lines that lend a sense of motion to the look.
But designing for herself doesn’t mean that Harris is excluding the rest of the market. “It’s pretty accessible,” she explains. “The silhouettes are looser-fitting, so they’ll fit different body types, and they’re pretty simple. The color palette is fairly plain, so it can fit different age ranges.”
It’s a far cry from Harris’s day job as a childrenswear designer at Target, a gig that the St. Louis Park native took on after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2012 and working at design powerhouses Vera Wang and Kate Spade on the East Coast. “It’s a great balance,” she says. “Kids’ clothes are fun for me in a way I never would have known; they’re very goofy and sparkly and pink. Then when I get home, I can design what I love to wear in my free time.”
Harris will roll out small groups of made-to-order, limited-edition pieces from her living-room studio. And for now, she’s fine with starting small. “Being able to sew and be creative and really use my hands is why I started,” she says.
Lily Stan Studio • lilystanstudio.com
