As House of Holland Goes Into Administration, Now’s The Time To Support Your Favourite Fashion Brands

House of Holland has called in administrators. According to The Guardian, Will Wright, a partner at KPMG and the joint administrator, said: 'House of Holland rose to prominence as a forward-thinking British label, with its signature slogan t-shirts and collaborations with a number of high street brands. However, with apparel experiencing the same difficult trading pressures as others across the UK retail market, the company needed to raise additional investment in order for it to continue.' The fashion and retail landscape is experiencing a turbulent time at the moment, with Holland just the latest in a long line of independent labels struggling to survive. So, I would urge you to support the brands you love while you can. Before it's too late.

Henry Holland started making T-shirts for his friends while he was a fashion editor at _Smash Hits. '_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,' Holland told me last year. '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,'

Known for his witty slogans stamped across brightly coloured tees ('I'll Tell You Who's Boss Kate Moss' and 'Do Me Daily Christopher Bailey' to name but two), Holland enjoyed rapid success alongside his childhood friend Agyness Deyn, who became the most famous model face of the mid-noughties.

Like many young designers, Holland collaborated with other brands in order to remain profitable. As a result, many commercial partnerships followed, including with Debenhams, Habitat and – most recently – Speedo and Klarna. Whether or not you're a fan or follower of House of Holland, today's news sadly highlights the difficulty for young, independent designers in fashion. It's those individual voices who help give the industry a wider sense of perspective – it would be so much more than just a shame for such voices to be drowned out by global conglomerates.

Of course, we must all be more mindful when it comes to consumption, in all its forms. I am not advocating that we all start buying much more than we need in a bid to support fashion brands who may or may not be following sustainable methods of production. What I am urging you to do, however, is to support the labels you love that have a point of difference, that are independently owned, or that simply have a different perspective to offer. If we don't do that, we will end up living on homogenous high streets with no sense of creativity or originality.

Support them now, before it's too late.

SHOP: 5 Things To Buy From House Of Holland