‘Most of my shirts as a child were handmade by my Aunt Iris, who worked as a seamstress in a shirt factory in Peckham,’ remembers the London-based multidisciplinary artist Harris Elliott, who in 2025 was awarded an OBE for services to arts and cultural diversity.
The shirt is central to the first chapter of Elliott’s latest project, titled ‘Le Parlour’, a reimagining of the traditional ‘social salon’, which began in 16th-century Italy and flourished in France and England in the centuries that followed. Entering the central London space, which across the summer will be used as a listening bar, artist showcase, conversation spot and marketplace to purchase one-off collectables, guests will be greeted with a warren of stitched-together vintage white shirts, evoking marketplace tarpaulins.
Inside Harris Elliott’s London social salon, ‘Le Parlour’
A closer look at the first installation, ‘The Collection’, which comprises stitched-together white shirts
‘As a child I regularly visited markets with my mum [and] they held a lot of wonder – the colours, the rhyming slang of the stall holders, the different groups of people that came together was all fascinating,’ Elliott tells Wallpaper*. ‘As an adult, whichever city around the world that I visit, I always seek out the local marketplaces; that’s where the heartbeat of every city is.’
The initial reference for the project – which will transform through various ‘chapters’ over the coming months – was the ‘front room’, a modern equivalent of the parlour where traditional salons were held. ‘At the start of the year I wanted to create an artistic environment for gathering that was influenced by food and play,’ he says. ’Using my home as a reference meant I could lean into personal narratives – I had myriad cultural stories to draw upon.’ Listening to music was one such memory: in Le Parlour, a two-metre-high mirrored panel sound system is encased in a frame-like ‘house’, while Elliott’s personal family photo album is displayed, museum-like, on a plinth, ‘referencing the idea that this space is an extension of my home’.
Harriss Elliott, photographed within ‘Le Parlour’
Running from late July until December 2026 at The Casbah on Little Portland Street, Elliott hopes that ‘Le Parlour’ exists not only as an installation, but as a place for ‘people of all walks of life to gather in an intimate artistic setting, encouraging [them] to play games, engage with art, design, and often framed around food and drink’. A series of one-off pieces will also be available to purchase, including a T-shirt made in collaboration with artist Ayo Banton, tote bags crafted from the vintage white shirts used in the installation, as well as a ‘Russian doll’ miniature version of the ‘house’ which features as part of the space.
After the initial opening in late July, the space will evolve into a new installation, ‘Design for Sound’, in September, which will see hundreds of vintage record sleeves, collected in West Africa, decorating the walls. From this point, the sound system will be in action, while a planned series of ‘moments’ will invite groups from the world of ‘sound and music to dance, drink and share conversations’. In October, ‘Le Parlour’ will metamorphose once again, turning into a showcase for the work of emerging Ghanaian textile and visual artist Ofe Amponsah, whose works – using a traditional tufting technique – are inspired by Kubolor, a figure from Ghanaian folklore.
Le Parlour also features objects to purchase, including this pair of totes made from patchworked vintage white shirts
Elliott, who is at turns an artist, curator and creative director, rose to prominence with his work styling some of Britain’s best-known bands and artists, among them Damon Albarn, Kasabian and Noel Gallagher. It would lead to the 2014 curation of ‘Return of the Rudeboy’ at Somerset House, a portraiture project with photographer Dean Chalkley, and ‘The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion’, also at Somerset House in 2023. He is also the founder of Le Tings, a design studio which draws inspiration from the marketplaces of the African diaspora and his own African and Caribbean heritage.
With ‘Le Parlour’ – perhaps his most ambitious project yet – Elliott seeks to foster new intimacy, creating a web of connections that encompasses both longstanding collaborators and those new to the artist’s world. ‘It’s based on an invitation – an invitation to explore different narratives and to encourage the possibilities of future ideas,’ he says. ‘I want people to feel at home.’
Le Parlour is open from July to December 2026 at The Casbah, 20 Little Portland Street, London W1W 8BS.
Stay tuned to @harriselliottstudio for more information on Le Parlour’s programming.