Henry Holland headed down Mexico way this season to playfully plunder the awesome Amanda Watkins portfolio Cholombianos. Watkins’s work records the unique aesthetic microclimate of Monterrey, a mind-bending mix of orthodox Catholic iconography, neighborhood specific street-name scapulars, artistically personalized sneakers, and a go-to menswear silhouette that’s as oversized as the womenswear isn’t.
Holland took the majority his silhouette pointers from the men of Monterrey, translating ultra-baggy workwear into culottes, high-waisted floor-length skirts, and what he said was the nearest his house has come to offering a ball gown, a long-length, tulle-augmented dress in soft red cotton dobby. There was plenty of ruffle: A frond of it arced as a faux peplum at the hem of a pastel botanical jacquard ringer-neck top that duetted with matching shorts, or intersected a denim vest from left shoulder to right hip. Our Lady of Guadalupe looked on just as beatifically from a three-quarter-length skirt below a check ruffle-front crop top as she did from a zip-and-go minidress.
“Shameless” read Holland’s take on his girl’s street-name scapular, but there was plenty of heart here: either as tattoo-elaborate patches on denim or white polyester mesh, straightforwardly silhouetted in blush pink against silver on a jacquard, framed in ruffle on street-tag sweats, or printed on stretch jersey dresses and tees.
And why the pineapple? “I just chucked it in. It felt right. And you can’t go wrong with a pineapple,” Holland said. Sweet and spiky, just like this collection.
