House of Holland saddles up for celebration of pattern, rodeo style and Woody Woodpecker

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 19, 2017

Henry Holland can always be relied upon to offer up looks that sit outside the mainstream and his House of Holland show did just that on Saturday. He took his well-known love of gingham checks a step further, added in an assortment of clashing pattern stories and mixed it all in with rodeo style.

The industry might not necessarily pick up and run with his rodeo obsession, but some of those pattern ideas will influence autumn/winter style at high street level. And individual itenms like the cowboy hat and boots or statement details like carefully placed fringes could well filter through.

The use of giant stars on denim or as smaller allovers on dresses, coats, boots and hats in red, white and blue added further backing this Fashion Month to the star as a key pattern story. The same could be said for his cherry motifs on mid-calf cowboy boots with cherries or berries having been picked up by other designers in the past two weeks. And his camouflage print combined with cartoon elements also looks commercial.

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While the rodeo theme was dominant throughout, it was perhaps more a reflection of an approach to dressing that is colourful and intricate, built around strong patterm, texture and detail, than any assumption that women will saddle up and ride off into the sunset come September.

Those Western shirts (featuring stripe, circle and star prints), those boots (and cut-down versions like cowboy boot mules), and those fringed pants (like the costumes from a travelling rodeo show) showed that minimalism is not having it all its own way at LFW.

Commercial key items also included a velvet puffer jacket, which moves the on-trend puffer forward and has been an important seasonal piece seen on more than one stand at the BFC's associated Designer Showrooms exhibition. Oversized 'gingham' pattern knits and fuzzy fur coats should also influence the knit and outerwear sectors.

And a Woody Woodpecker motif that was part of a 15-piece capsule collection influenced by the vintage cartoon character suggests the trend for cartoon graphics has plenty of life left in it.