Fashion designer, businessman and blogger, Henry Holland has had one hell of a career. With a journalism degree, editorial career and a popular fashion empire under his belt, Holland can certainly do it all. Last Friday at the House of Klarna event in Manchester, he opened up to Grazia's Digital Fashion and Beauty Editor, Hannah Banks-Walker about his inspirational career.
'I grew up in Ramsbottom where a career in fashion was just not spoken about back then,' revealed Holland. 'I went to university to study journalism and write about whatever I want. And then I had this idea that I could eventually go and work in magazines and be a fashion journalist. I had drive and motivation to go out and get as much fashion experience as I could. I was assisting stylists, doing shoots, working for W Magazine in the UK and places like Drapers. I started working at Smash Hits, and when my boss left I became fashion editor at Smash Hits at 21 which was incredible and I had the most amazing time. I’d be on a shoot with Girls Aloud and the Sugababes. I had a column called Henry Trendy, it was just amazing.
'But then I got a bit bored. I loved doing what I was doing but it was easy. So I started making T-shirts on the side from the fashion cupboard. I had no preconceived idea about what it was [that I was doing], I was literally just making four T-shirts for me and my friends to wear to a nightclub. I gave all the T-shirts to people that I knew and then Gareth Pugh [wore one] to his show. The next day I was back at work and I got a call on my mobile saying it’s "Sarah Mower from American Vogue, can I talk to you about your T-shirts?"'. Within six months they were in Barney’s NY, Joyce in Hong Kong, and Harvey Nichols all over the world,' Holland recalled.
'These big moments were happening to me, like the first time I ever met Anna Wintour or the first time I went to Barney’s for an appointment and I pulled out my T-shirts one by one from a Tesco carrier bag. Looking back I'm like "are you stupid?", but actually I’m so glad I was so naive because that came across as authentic. I had complete imposter syndrome [at the beginning] but when I started House of Holland, the name helped because I instantly saw it as a brand. I never called myself a designer and would have real trouble using that word because I hadn’t trained to be a designer and didn’t consider myself to be one. I was always more of a guardian of a brand, I suppose. [The fashion industry] is hugely rewarding and hugely thrilling to be a part of, but it does have a tendency to drain your soul at times. It's important to remain true to who you are and why you’re in it.'
On discussing his brand today, Holland said 'what we’ve created since the T-shirts has always tried to be something quite inclusive. We’ve tried to build a brand that’s more elevated as a catwalk brand and is in top tier stores around the world but we also want to keep it quite democratic. So, a lot of the partnerships that we do are a lower price points that makes it attainable to more people,' he added.
Speaking about how he works with Klarna, Holland said: 'I started talking to Klarna in the summer, but I've been working with them on our website since the beginning of the year. There's the option to pay with Klarna on the website and I think it’s a really good tool to broaden our audience and make areas of the collection more available.'
For the past week, the House of Klarna event has been home to a host of inspirational talks, workshops and styling sessions that celebrate the Klarna brand. Innovation is at the heart of what this global payments provider and fully-licensed bank does - and they want to revolutionise the payment experience for us, by giving us the option to pay now, pay later or over time for things we buy online. Dreamy, we know.
The three-storey house has facilitated some of the best fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands in the business including ASOS, Oliver Bonas, Topshop, Topman, House of Holland, Missguided, BEAUTY BAY, My Protein and Schuh. Speaking about the event, Global fashion Eve Williams, Brand Experience Director at ASOS said: 'At ASOS we want to give our customers the best choice in everything we do; whether that is in the broad range of ASOS Design and branded products, smooth and fast delivery options or payment options. We know these are all important to our customers and we look forward to bringing them to life with Klarna’s fun event in Manchester'.
Discover more information about the House of Klarna event here.