Henry Holland is shaking up the world of fabrics - find out how…
From rebellious fashion designer to a successful ceramicist creating boldly marbled vases and tableware, Henry Holland’s late-thirties career pivot went far better than most. And now he can add textile designer to that list of professions, as this month sees the launch of his very first collection of fabrics and wallpapers for Harlequin.
Forget the cheeky slogan T-shirts (‘Get yer freak on Giles Deacon’ was always a favourite) and punky stylings of his fashion days – this is a far more sophisticated affair. There is boldness and bravado, of course, but the colour palette has on the whole been lifted from that of his ceramics: all natural tones of sage, terracotta, brown and blue.
Patterns are inspired by the clay too, or have been thoughtfully selected from Harlequin’s varied archive, and all the elements have been curated to combine in a subtle, elegant way. Not lairy in the slightest, these patterns are elevated, usable and guaranteed to breathe some fresh air into the still rather stuffy world of British decorating.
Work on the range took about 18 months, and stemmed from an initial meeting between Holland and Lisa Montague, CEO of Sanderson Design Group (which includes Harlequin). ‘My first fashion collaboration was with Mulberry,’ says Holland, ‘which Lisa headed up at the time, before she went to Loewe, where she worked with my husband David. So we already had this relationship. She suggested doing something together and I was like “Absolutely!” Next thing I know, I’m up in Loughborough, meeting the design team and getting a factory tour. I love a factory tour.’
Those expecting a capsule collection from someone just dipping their toe into the interiors market are in for a surprise. This is a fully developed decorating offer, comprising nine wallpapers, six upholstery weaves, 12 drapery weights and moiré fabric in 15 shades. Claire Vallis, Sanderson Design Group’s design director, says they only planned one fabric and one wallpaper collection, but as Holland and the team started to work together, the ideas flowed and the range grew and grew.
‘This was the first time I’d ever done fabric and wallpaper, so I really just had to draw from my own personal reference points,’ says Holland. ‘The moiré was something I knew I wanted to do, and that really stemmed from this mint-green Casely-Hayford suit I wore for my wedding, which was just so evocative.
‘My parents had moiré all over the living room when I was a kid, too – cushions, curtains, swags and tails, the lot – and I’d always loved it in fashion. It was plain, but it had pattern to it. It was colour, it was texture and it had real depth. I’d seen it starting to come back in interiors and I had to have it in there.’
A visit to Harlequin’s extensive archive also inspired further designs, but more often than not these too linked back to Holland’s own memories. ‘My mum used to have an 18th-century château in France,’ he explains. ‘There was a corridor in the attic that was never touched, which had this wallpaper we all loved in it. It was a weeping willow tree on a grey background with these pure Yves Klein blue berries on it. When she moved out, mum tore a piece off and framed it. One of the archive prints reminded me of that, so we redid it and called it ‘Ludaix’, the name of the château.’
Autobiographical elements such as this appear throughout. The checks are called ‘Blenets,’ after his mother’s first house in France, because a first sample came in a duck-egg blue that reminded him of its shutters. Other designs are named after roads he and his partner have lived on or want to – ‘I’m using them to manifest our next move,’ he says.
Although Holland didn’t want to just reinterpret his recognisable ceramics in different ways on fabric and wallpaper, given the success of his business and how quickly he has become associated with the layered nerikomi effect he uses, these had to appear in some form in the Harlequin collection.
‘In the early development stages, a photographer came in, and I made slabs for him to shoot,’ says Holland. ‘Those became digital files they could create repeats with.’ They appear as ‘Marble’, a beautiful printed strié linen; ‘Marble Wave’, an embroidery; and ‘Marble Tapestry’, a technically complex appliquéed bouclé that Holland has used to upholster his own bed at home.
In fact, as you can see on some of these pages, it’s in his London home where Holland has put all this hard work to good use, decoratively putting his money where his mouth is. The bedroom is a celebration of moiré, with the walls and drapes in the same verdant green – ‘It’s the best way to do an all-over colourwash,’ says Holland. The ‘Marble Tapestry’ on the bed, while based on the clay slabs, almost looks like woodgrain, and complements the similar textures of the moiré. Checks appear on the sheers and lining a vintage cabinet, and a bouclé is used on two tub chairs.
Perhaps the most ambitious and decadent application of the collection can be seen in the adjoining dressing room. Pale-pink moiré fabric curtains hang at the window, while bespoke floor-to-ceiling wardrobes with upholstered doors are covered in the geometric ombré ‘Southborough’ velvet and lined with more pink moiré. As Holland says, ‘It’s very Barbara Cartland, but I love it!’
Working with Harlequin has given Holland a renewed interest in collaboration, which has been key throughout his varied career. ‘I really leant into the design team and their expertise,’ he says. ‘They’re so lovely, and collaboration has always been about education for me. I learnt so much from them about the repeat on wallpapers, the directions of prints and how to work at scale.’
Vallis is just as effusive about working with Holland: ‘Henry just understands. He’s got such an eye for something that’s different, that’s right for a moment,’ she says. ‘He did it with his fashion, then when his ceramics launched they were on every design moodboard going, and now this! Hopefully it’s only the start of what’s to come.’ harlequin.sandersondesigngroup.com
