Two major cultural moments collided in the House of Holland Resort 2020 collection. The British designer took a dual-pronged trip back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, and that pivotal period when the last days of New York disco merged with the angsty energy of punk.
“I think there’s a reflection between then and now,” said Henry Holland. “It’s a time when everyone was so pissed off with the world that all they wanted to do was get wasted.” Holland’s muse for this hedonistic time was the German pop singer, artist, and all-round exhibitionist Nina Hagen. The siren-like visage of the self-described “godmother of punk”—who was immortalized in Peter Sempel’s 1999 documentary film Nina Hagen = Punk + Glory—was inscribed onto monochrome sweaters and tees paired with 12-eye Dr. Martens with bright hiking-boot laces.
“Her look is very relevant today,” said Holland of the chameleonic, rainbow-haired performer. “She was a colorful punk and that’s exactly how a House of Holland girl would wear it. She’s very Bleach Dalston,” he added, referring to the East London beauty parlor that helped spearhead today’s tastes for multihued manes. Holland borrowed from Hagen’s preference for Lurex leotards and leggings with sporty, stretchy, and stripy fabrications. Cheetah prints in a zingy palette had a deliberately haphazard feel that echoed the xeroxed pages of a punk fanzine in a nod to the artist of the age, Stephen Sprouse.
These edgier looks were peppered with the high-shine of Studio 54 in a prelude to a “deep disco dive” next season. A highlight among all the panel-striped satin and lace-and-Lurex was a tobacco-toned, puff-shouldered minidress, an iteration of which has already been custom-made for pop star Lizzo. Pink, white, and baby blue satin three-piece suits that take their tone from the transgender pride flag formed part of a newly launched capsule. And Holland’s sell-out collaboration with performance swimwear company Speedo also got a punchy reprise. Who could resist a monogram-print one-piece worn with a silver puffer coat and chunky Grenson trainers? Holland’s gutsy remix of Manhattan’s past lives will surely resonate with his contemporary crowd.
