Harris Reed is a British-American fashion designer, model, and creative director who has worked with the likes of Harry Styles and Troye Sivan.
And now, his creations are taking on a whole new life: As Mattel’s first gender-fluid doll.
“The Witch Weaver” is the newest member of the Monster High doll family, a punky and gothic younger sibling to Barbie. Donning red hair, fangs, and spiderweb tattoos, the doll embodies a supernatural spirit of transformation.
But for Reed, it is far from mythical.
“My biggest dream as a designer and as a queer activist is about inspiring the next generation, so I think the fact that kids can see a doll and find a bit of hope and curiosity is so amazing,” Reed told Women’s Wear Daily.
The designer identifies as gender-fluid, which is when someone does not identify solely as male or female, and their gender identity changes over time. Reed currently uses he/him pronouns.
On Instagram, he said this project with Mattel was two and a half years in the making.
“As [a] kid I remember, like so, so many others, not being able to find a doll that I could see myself in,” Reed wrote in a caption, accompanying some high-fashion photos with the doll.
“I struggled so deeply in finding who I was, that was until I remembered coming across the Monster High dolls and their playfulness and over-the-top clothes.”
Reed went on to say that their choices as a 7-year-old at Toys R Us were between a G.I. Joe or Barbie.
The Monster High dolls symbolized something else.
“The combinations of other worldly identities made me feel seen,” Reed said of the dolls, who are often dressed in more campy, avant garde attire, compared to the other dolls on store shelves.
Reed’s doll is no exception.
“The Witch Weaver joins the extraordinary Monster High family and… embodies that we should be allowed to discover who we are and transform and weave through our identities,” Reed wrote.
The Witch Weaver wears flared jeans, a harlequin blouse, and ornate golden and crystal accessories. It embodies Reed’s signature design codes, personal style, and even his favorite Monster High doll from childhood: Lady Gaga.
“I was obsessed with how she gave everyone what we all wanted, which was not just a doll of her,” Reed told Women’s Wear Daily. “We wanted a character. We wanted someone with magical power.”
With Mattel giving Reed the stage to play with magic, he hopes it will make an impact for youth everywhere.
“With everything going on in the world right now,” Reed concluded on Instagram, “it’s so important that the next generation knows they can do anything they want, and more importantly, can be anything they want.”
The Witch Weaver doll will be on sale to the general public November 22, 2024.
Header images courtesy of Mattel and Harris Reed
