The rise and rise of Henry Holland, fashion designer behind House of Holland
Briton talks about his continued growth in China, expanding into menswear and the accidental public relations coup that catapulted him to fame
British designer Henry Holland glances up momentarily as an array of models walk up and down wearing his garments. It’s Shanghai Fashion Week and Holland looks approvingly at every look for a show that will take place the next day at fashion trade show The Hub.
“Hong Kong and mainland China accounts for almost 30 per cent of our business, so it’s an important market,” says the House of Holland’s creative director. “We are always keen to do whatever we can promotion-wise to keep up our brand presence in this part of the world.”
Holland creates youthful, catchy pieces for a contemporary audience that is unafraid to experiment with new colours, textures and silhouettes. It’s therefore not hard to see why the British brand has resonated with customers in Asia. This is especially the case with the Chinese market, where customers are quickly developing an appetite for smaller labels, and are still eager to experiment with new styles and silhouettes.
“We’ve always had great responses in this part of the world, even from the very beginning, 10 years ago. I remember when Joyce Ma [founder of Joyce Boutique] came to my first-ever studio and was in my stockroom saying, ‘I want that, I want that, I want that’, as if she were picking T-shirts off the shelves. And she didn’t care if I protested, or told her that certain products were exclusives to Henri Bendel in New York.”
