Henry Holland is not the first fashion designer who’s been tempted to give it all up and throw pots—but he is the most successful.
Today, he builds marbleized espresso mugs and gingham planters out of his studio in Hackney, London, where his twin kilns (which he’s named Janice and Stanley) are firing on all cylinders. His kitchen items are always on the verge of selling out, but larger works—earthenware-framed mirrors, bobbin lamps, and, most recently, coffee tables and chairs that incorporate patinated bronze and mohair—can always be commissioned for those willing to wait. (Current lead times are running six to eight weeks. Sorry.)
Sipping a mug of tea in his nubby, sand-colored cardigan and wire-framed round glasses, he is the picture of the humble English potter. But nearly 20 years ago, he used those same hands to scrawl “I’ll tell you who’s boss, Kate Moss” onto a T-shirt, and the fashion world was forever changed.
Back then, Holland was a boy wonder from Manchester who moved to London to work on the teen gossip magazines Sneak, Bliss, and Smash Hits. Inspired by Americans ironically appropriating Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys T-shirts, he hit the club scene with his own rhyming versions.
Holland’s friends—including designers-of-the-moment such as Giles Deacon and Gareth Pugh—adopted them as uniforms. Before long, cool girls were strutting through Saint-Germain, Harajuku, and Nolita with “Nail Me Daily, Christopher Bailey” emblazoned across their chests. (Bailey was the creative director of Burberry, and quite handsome.)
Holland began selling the shirts off his MySpace page, and before long a brand was born. House of Holland endured for nearly 15 years, outfitting teens and twentysomethings in kitschy party clothes even as Holland’s bedtime inched earlier.
That all changed in 2020, when a distribution deal with China fell through and Holland had no choice but to liquidate. “I was locked in my house with very little to do,” he says. “My plan was to work for other people and tell them how to spend their money and not have the pressure of making any myself.”
He consulted for TikTok and the British Fashion Council, but he acutely missed the creative life and began taking classes from a Turkish ceramist who lived down the road. Those first few pinch pots proved therapeutic, especially since Holland’s mother was being treated for cancer. For the first time in his adult life, he achieved a flow state for eight hours at a time, not even tempted to text.
Working with clay delivered another revelation: “I didn’t need someone else to make something,” he says, clearly still recovering from decades dominated by spreadsheets, delivery dates, and fashion-show after-parties.
Armed with his new skills, Holland bought a bag of clay and began molding vessels in his kitchen. Much of his work uses the Japanese method of nerikomi, in which colored clays are pressed together and fired, and he was so pleased with his early results that he decided to see how they’d play with the masses.
“I had a bit of a following from my previous life,” he admits humbly, and his 208,000 Instagram followers were keen to see what he’d do next. So, cheekily describing himself as “your new favorite pot dealer,” he posted photos of his second act. Within 90 minutes, he had orders for 150 pieces. Liberty of London tried to order 600 more, and while Holland wasn’t immediately able to fulfill them, he had effortlessly manifested yet another business.
Today, his body of work and sphere of influence are growing at a pace that makes his previous business look almost quaint. But he can credit this success, he admits, to serving so much time in the fashion trenches—innovating constantly, delivering high-quality products in a timely fashion, and enlisting social media (and a few fabulous friends) to spread the message.
Holland is now more in demand than ever. But there’s still one person who is not entirely susceptible to his charms: his husband, David Hodgson, who has watched him resume his workaholic ways. “He’s like, ‘Why do you have to sell everything?’” says Holland with a smile. “‘Why can’t you have a hobby?’”
Ashley Baker is a Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL and a co-host of the Morning Meeting podcast
