In between the Grammys, where one of his clients rocked the stage wearing a rather fabulous spangled jumpsuit from Gucci, and Sunday's BRIT Awards, Harry Lambert has somehow found the time to curate a fabulous collection of pre-loved clothes for the Absolut Swap Shop. This is the man who's put his roster of stars in a goldfish-in-a-plastic-bag dress (Emma Corrin), a chocolate brown, corsage-embellished suit (Eddie Redmayne), neon leggings (Josh O'Connor) and, last but not least, a squid tail dripping with freshwater pearls (Harry Styles). What this means is that his section of the shop - which is open to the public tomorrow at 133 Bethnal Green, and also features areas curated by Venetia La Manna, the fair fashion campaigner, and Nyome Nicholas-Williams, the body positive activist - is guaranteed to be a goldmine.
Harry has included pieces - some of which have been used in shoots or magazine editorials - from some of his favourite young designers like Ahluwalia, Chet Lo, Connor Ives, Mowalola, Supriya Lele and Sinead O'Dwyer. The kind of people he would have aspired to wear when he was at uni. 'I just thought like imagine if, you know, I could own a piece of Stefan, Cook, SS Daley or Bianca Saunders. Like how much that would mean to me,' he says over Zoom. 'I think clothes can have such a soul. These pieces should be future vintage.'
The concept of a swap shop means that it's entirely cashless. Shoppers, or 'swappers', simply bring an item of clothing and then swap it for something they see. As well as keeping pre-loved clothes circulating, and out of landfill, it's a democratic way of giving people access to pieces that they wouldn't be able to afford.
Harry admits that his relationship with clothes is still evolving. 'When I was younger, I'd buy something, throw it away. I wouldn't even like take it to a charity shop. It just felt so disposable.' He says that young people nowadays are much more educated about the effect of over-consumption on the environment. 'The Absolut Swap Shop just felt like a way to reinforce that narrative that clothes can have a longer life.'
He's a fully-fledged swapper when it comes to his own wardrobe. 'I like to think my parents have become the best dressed parents in Norwich! When I'm done with wearing something, I pass it onto them because they're really into fashion now.' One such item was an incredible checked coat with duffel buttons from JW Anderson, which he gave to his dad. 'Him and my mum fight over it.'
As well as being jam-packed with designer pieces, Harry also wanted to provide the essentials you'd expect to find at a vintage shop. He went to Beyond Retro, pulling things like denim jackets, sweatshirts and T-shirts. There's also two pairs of trousers from Marco Ribeiro, a frequenter collaborator with Harry, that are a replica of the patchwork pair made of deadstock fabric worn by Harry Styles.
The shop is also designed to transcend trends, gender, era and size, an attitude that fans will recognise in Harry Lambert, who has made sure to include pieces that aren't just size S. 'I'm not a sample size person, you know? We've tried to do a range of sizes so it doesn't feel like you have to be a size 8 to turn up.' It's something he recognises as a problem in the industry. 'Fashion's hard. We're getting there very, very slowly with more model diversity.'
The Absolut Swap Shop is open to the public tomorrow and you can book your swap spot online.