Fashion
THE INSIDER: HENRY HOLLAND
“courtney love came over to me and i was petrified.”
When Henry Holland burst onto the scene three years ago, he wasn't really known for his clothes – rather, the former teen magazine editor got attention for his way-too-clever rhymes, sexing up designers with slogans like DO ME IN THE PARK, MARC and HARDER HARDER MIUCCIA PRADA (which doesn't really rhyme, unless you say it in Holland's lilting Manchester accent).
But Henry's now got four runway shows under his (neon studded) belt. Besides stuffing his catwalks with model BFFs like Daisy Lowe, Pixie Geldof, and Agyness Deyn (who's been Henry's pal since grammar school), he's also making actual clothes, bought by Nu Rave girls all over the world and soon to be sold stateside at Barneys and Opening Ceremony, as well as Se7en New York.
Another project? His inclusion in the Six Scents fragrances, a collection of perfumes by avant-garde catwalk staples (including Jeremy Scott, Gareth Pugh, and Richard Nicoll).
We sat down with Henry yesterday in Manhattan.
So you're here for the Six Scents fragrance launch... Yes, it's part of the Six Scents collection. When they got in touch, I was really excited, because it's a milestone when a designer does a fragrance; it puts you in a certain category. Besides that, I love branding. I have a remote control in our signature tartan, do you know that? I did packaging for Wrigley's gum. And we've got a collection of tights now, which have gone crazy. We've sold thousands and thousands; I've never sold that much of one thing, ever…
But they're still not in America!
I feel like they're hitting this week, actually. In TopShop. And when I was in Paris, I was at a party with Leigh [Lezark] and Lindsay Lohan, and Harley Viera-Newton was there wearing my tights! I was like, “No way!”
Dude, you just had to go and bring up Lohan. Did you make it to the Ungaro show, since she's their new creative consultant? No, but I was talking about it with her the night before, loads and loads. She told me about how hard the work had been.
Are you okay with celebrities being designers? It's fine; it's a whole new thing, like designers are becoming celebrities and celebrities are becoming designers. It's a whole process. Like Marc Jacobs is no longer a fashion designer, he's a celebrity. Even girls like the Rodarte girls or Alexander Wang, for kids that love fashion, they're celebrities. If I saw Alexander Wang on the street, and I didn't know him, and I walked up to him and said hi, I would be stoked. Like, “I died, bananas.”
Rachel Zoe's a fashion celebrity too! Oh yeah! They're people and they just capture people's attention a bit more, so to do it the other way around, first be an actress and then design, I say “Why not?” I've had no formal training. You learn on the job so much of what you do anyway. They didn't teach you at University how to dress Kelly Osbourne for under $30, which I had to do for a story! I could be a lecturer now.
K back to Six Scents. How did you pick your scent? It was intense. We had to fill out this questionnaire, like “If your fragrance is a room, what would be in it? If your fragrance was an event, what would happen there?” I was like, “Um, it would be a party and there would be stripy bedding?” Then the perfumier phoned me. Eventually, it came down to two options. One of them smelled like Tiger Curry, not even kidding. So we went with the other one, which is fresh and a bit fruity. But still a bit musty and heavenly. Then we had to name it, and that was tricky. What do I name a fragrance? I named it Smell. There you go.
I met your mom during London Fashion Week. She must be freaking out. Yeah, my mom is desperate to have it! She wants to give it to people for Christmas. Agyness wants it too; I stayed at her flat the first night I got to New York, and she has all the other Six Scents in her bathroom.
I feel like next, you need a hair gel. I'm on it; I do loads of work with Sebastian. They've done my last two shows, and I'm like an ambassador for them. So believe me, we're on it.
Do you want to talk about your most recent runway collection? Besides tell people to buy it? Um, well, something weird happened to me right after that collection debuted, actually. Courtney Love came over to me, and I was petrified and she was like, “Hello, drainer of my fucking up my bank account.” And I'm like, “Oh my god, I'm so scared of you right now.”
