Dream career

From fashion editor with no training in design to head of a big-name clothing brand, Henry Holland now aims to break into the China market

From writing on T-shirts to leading one of the Britain's best-known fashion brands, Henry Holland has had a career path most young designers can only dream of. As his brand enters China, the editor-turned-fashion-designer shared the secrets of his success, and his sense of humor, with local designers and fashion students.

A fan of social media, he is keen to promote himself on weibo, China's version of twitter, where within a few days of arriving in China, he had written dozens of posts about his first contact with the country.

"I set myself a target of getting 5,000 followers before I leave and I need your help," he told an audience in Beijing. "So everybody here on weibo, will you please follow me. And I will be talking a lot about what I eat."

Holland had three audiences in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou during his visit to China in November.

Despite a relatively late entrance into the Chinese market, Holland is confident that House of Holland will set itself apart from other Western brands by its emphasis on youth. The brand is known for its unconventional use of color and playful style.

"Very few of the high-level brands actually come to the young market," Holland says. "They are very much targeted at the 30-up market, while we are very much 30 below."

A former fashion writer and editor, many people see Holland as lucky to have started a successful career in fashion design. But he says that it came with a lot of effort.

"I studied journalism in university because I wanted to be a fashion writer. Then I quickly realized that I did the wrong thing and tried to change my course to a fashion course, but by then the fashion courses were all full."

"So I just stuck with my degree and decided that I would utilize my time outside of university and get as much experience I could at the fashion center. So I assisted a stylist and worked at a fashion magazine. I virtually did anything for anyone that would hire me."

Holland's breakthrough came in 2006 when he started making 1980s-inspired T-shirts with catchphrases like "I'll tell you who's boss, Kate Moss".

The T-shirts soon became a sought-after fashion item and Holland's career as a designer took off. But the success that followed and the flood of invitations caused him to panic, because of his lack of training in clothes design.

"Because I didn't know how to make clothes, I got an intern who taught me how to make T-shirts. From then on, we developed and evolved the collection to separate dresses and outerwear. That's why I like working in fashion, whether it's fabric, whether it's technique, whether it's shape. It's like a journey."

As House of Holland expands into other areas, including cosmetics, Holland's creative team consists of just eight people, in order not to dilute the brand.

"Whatever we do, we are still a very small team. We are a team of eight people, and all that happens outside of the team of eight people through collaboration or license is very much the business part. The creative part is always handled by myself. So I'm a bit of a control-freak myself."

People are Holland's major source of creative inspiration.

"When I work on certain collections, I get inspired by people I see, whether it's their personality or the way they dress."

Holland is known for his celebrity friendships, including the model Agyness Deyn. Does he think these connections help the Holland brand?

"If you get your clothes worn by celebrities throughout the world, then even someone who doesn't buy Vogue, someone who buys celebrity gossip magazines, they will still see your work and be aware of it and aware of your designs," he says.

Visibility, as Holland puts it, is a huge part of starting in the fashion business.

"People have to know what you are doing. People have to see your work and understand it and associate it with you. It's very much about creating and getting your work out there."

Asked about what is most important for a beginner in the fashion industry, Holland tells aspiring Chinese designers and fashion students, "Stay true to yourself and your creative vision. If you have confidence in your idea, whether it's the creative side or business side, other people will believe in it too. Some people will dislike what you do, some people will love what you do. And you can't take everything on board. But as long as you are very confident in what you want to tell the world through your work, then you can create a success with a lot of hard work."

Like his idol Paul Smith, who has created an internationally recognizable brand of British clothing, Holland values the business side of his job as much as the creative side.

"I would say people need a fashion degree if they are to start their own brand; a fashion degree and a business degree. You have to understand the taxes and the wages, and really boring things like that, but if you are to start a company, they are just as important, because there is no way that you can continue creating without these."

sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/18/2013 page29)