Henry Holland’s new SS17 collection for Habitat is here and it must be seen

British fashion designer and owner of one magnificent quiff, Henry Holland has unveiled his new range of homewares for Habitat - and they are as bold and bright as you'd expect. Following on from his first collection for the iconic home design store last April, his new line called 'Free to Roam' uses a small-scale gingham with unexpected bursts of fluorescent colour to render traditional Romany floral motifs in a high fashion style. Hot pink, acid green and electric blues tie the pieces closely to the colourful and quirky spring/summer ready-to-wear collection he debuted at London Fashion Week last September.

Available to buy in store now, must have pieces include the mid-Century style Misty chair in the most shocking pink velvet with blue trim and a beautiful hand-carved rug adorned with oversized 3D flowers. And if you only buy one piece make it the 'Check Me Out' slogan cushion, a nod to the 10th anniversary of the loud T-shirts that launched him into the limelight in 2006.

We caught up with Henry to talk about the collection and find out where he finds his inspiration.

Bright. Fun. Eclectic.

Describe your interiors style in three words:

What can we expect to see in the new collection? How has it evolved from your first collection for Habitat?

My first collection for Habitat was inspired by the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – so it was pretty hallucinatory and out there with tropical-themed prints, animal prints and some pretty crazy bug illustrations by Susan Pitt. The new collection for Habitat takes its reference from our SS17 catwalk, which is called ‘Free To Roam’ and uses Romany traveller communities as its inspiration. Be prepared to see a lot of florals and ginghams and techniques such as embroidery and netting on which we’ve put a real House of Holland twist by using really punchy colours to move it away from traditional Bohemian into something quite contemporary. What I loved about the first collection was seeing my patterns taken large scale on the rug and sofa, so I was really keen to working on a bedding collection and show off our hero floral patterns from the range. We’ve created a new reversible designs to show off two different patterns for different effects – one quite folksy and summery and then the other a lot edgier and abstract. I love it!

Henry Holland's room at the Hoxton hotel features framed photographs of Romany travellers - the inspiration for the latest collection

Where do you find your inspiration for your interior collections? In what ways is it different and/or similar to your approach to fashion design?

The main inspiration for SS17 was from Josepf Koudelka’s photography of traveler communicates from the Eastern Bloc. I liked how these showed people expressing themselves through their fashion and surroundings. Interestingly it was the interiors that really informed our fashion collection with people bringing together a mix of materials, styles and pattern in their homes – I wanted to try and capture this in our fashion collection. So we’ve gone full circle – from interiors to fashion back to interiors!

How has that translated into your latest collection? What piece has already made it into your own home?

You’ll see that the collection is very busy and has a LOT of ideas going on but they all refer back to our catwalk collection in both subtle and obvious ways. The florals are obviously key and we’ve made these central to the designs using the same hand embroidered patterns. We’ve also referenced our House of Holland slogan t-shirt with our first slogan cushion – Check Me Out – that celebrates our 10th birthday. For the bedding we’ve referenced the netting technique that we showed over bright pattern on the catwalk – firstly by creating an amazing ‘netted’ throw that allows colour to pop from underneath and secondly we’re retailing the bedding sets in netted bags that do the same kind of thing in-store. The rug is my hero piece. It’s hand carved by one of Habitat’s oldest suppliers in India, each one taking a craftsman five days to complete. The hand carving creates different levels on the rug meaning the floral pattern pops out from the design in a 3D effect and is really impactful. It’s also a nod to how I like to build up interior schemes with its black and white base pattern onto which we’ve then built up layers of colour and patterning.

Which trend would you like to see the back of in 2017 – and why?

In fashion - long sleeves – I can’t have another dinner or lunch with a girl who is dipping her sleeves in her soup!

You’re launching the new range with a swanky party at The Hoxton hotel in Holborn. What are your top tips for hosting a fabulous get together?

We’re not just having a party – we’re taking over a room there for a whole month so people can book in to experience House of Holland x Habitat! We’ve worked with The Hoxton, Holborn to design a room that brings together the whole collection and we’ve created some beautiful bespoke wallpaper, accessories with plants by Grace & Thorn and photography taken from our original moodboards that informed the SS17 runway collection. It’s a pretty trippy room as there is a lot of pattern going on (maybe not so hangover friendly) but we’re looking forward to the launch party! Top tips for me on hosting – it’s all about creating a good atmosphere to set the tone for the whole evening. Getting a good playlist on in the background is essential, relaxing lighting created by table lamps to create a cool Soho House club vibe and then simple, elegant cocktails that will get everyone in the party mood.

Working in fashion you must get to travel a lot, what’s your favourite hotel - and why?

I am loving the work that The Hoxton are doing in London and Amsterdam – their decor style is always a hit and I can’t wait to go and stay at their new Paris hotel later in the year (hint hint ). Further abroad I love the Upper House in Hong Kong - it’s in the best place and they really look after you. The QT Bondi in Sydney is right across from the world most famous beach and I love being right on the sea.

What's next in the pipeline for you?

We have lots of plans for the business that I’m getting excited about getting my teeth into – unfortunately they’re not ready to share just yet… And I want a holiday! (but that’s pretty much all the time!)