HONORING & PRESERVING the
STYLE & CRAFT of the PAST
Riley's designs can be seen on stars such as Lady Gaga, Margo Price, Pam Tillis and more. Riley Reed also designed and created the current costumes for the Grand ole Opry square dancers,
which can be seen on stage on the historic Opry House every Saturday night.
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Her current “9-5” is on Dolly Parton’s creative team lead by Steve Summers (Creative Director).
Riley also assist Rebecca Seaver (Director of Archival Services) as the Collections Conservator to
Dolly’s extensive wardrobe archive with costumes spanning her decades-long career.
Riley Reed honors and preserves the techniques and styles of the past
not only with her preservation work, but also with modernizing classic designs.
Photo courtesy of The New York Times
The rodeo tailors created a body of work that exerts a powerful pull for a new breed of bespoke Western-wear designers. Union Western’s Jerry Lee Atwood, Fort Lonesome’s Kathie Sever, “Katy K” Kattelman, Dandy & Rose’s Janet Aspley, and Manuel protégé Riley Reed are among the contemporary clothiers drawing inspiration and tailoring techniques from their predecessors’ expressions of Western-style. Their modern spins on classic Nudie suits and vintage stage costumes have been spotted on artists ranging from Post Malone, Lil Nas X, and Charley Crockett, to Margo Price, Jenny Lewis, and Midland.
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Country Music Hall of Fame
HOWDY, I'M
RILEY REED
Almost two decades ago, I hopped in the passenger seat of my boyfriend’s semi truck and rolled past houses, farms, and fields of Illinois towards the bright neon lights of Nashville.
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I soon found myself bartending my way through design school under the glow of those same neon lights that called to me, at the undisputed home of traditional country music— Robert’s Western World. Nestled between the back doors of the Ryman auditorium and the front doors of the original Ernest Tubb record shop, I was steeped in palpable history and inspiration. With that came the steady whispers of what I would do next— vintage inspired western wear.
