In The World Of African American Fashion; Meet Designer Charles Harbison

Meet Designer Charles Harbison

“My heritage and culture are definite influences in how I approach fashion, but my final responsibility is simply to create good design. I’m just excited to be a part of the conversation of “black fashion” and continue to further the range of what that means.”

Charles Elliott Harbison was born in Lincolnton, NC. Being a child of the 80s, he could remember his mother wearing a colorful power suit regularly. She was his first muse. As a way of spending time together, they would take trips to the mall. He would see how clothing would transform her into a more confident, elegant version of herself, and he would one day continue to subconsciously reference that very transformation in how he’d approach womenswear. 

Harbison studied fine arts, painting, and textiles at North Carolina State University. As an undergrad, he spent the summers interning at Michael Kors and Jack Spade. After graduation, he spent a year abroad studying Central Asian textiles. His next move brought him to New York, where he enrolled in the fashion program at Parsons School of Design. He began his professional career as a textile designer before moving on to work under Michael Kors.

Harbison saw a niche in the market that he wanted to fill for the women in his life that he found inspiring. In 2013 he launched his own label: HARBISON. A “luxury fashion brand designed for the woman who embraces her femininity…and her masculinity. It speaks to vulnerability and strength, to the hard and the soft within each every person—a balance of contradictions.” His collection serves the woman who sees beauty through the lens of contradiction, modernity, and luxury. The Harbison brand is designed and produced in New York.

Want to see more of this designer’s collection? Visit Harbison Collection