The range will consist of the 501^® jean, 505^® (the zip-fly “sibling” of the 501^® jean) and the modern 514™ Slim Straight cut.  Each pair is crafted in a factory in LA [using imported materials] and will retail for $148.  These jeans will be available at Brooks Brothers boutiques nationwide and online after July 29, 2010.

What a clever way to reestablish a brand by using a cooperative effort between two houses – time will tell if this becomes a promotion trend, like the pop up shop.

I was a skeptic (let’s not mince assumptions here), but I swung into the Glasgow Debenham’s this weekend and had a view of the Holland pieces up close and personal.  While they aren’t anything to shout at the moon over, they’re fun, [fairly] reasonably priced, decently constructed for a high street diffusion and utilize the qualities that we love most about Holland’s past ranges – stripes, checks, dots and a uniform feel.

There were a few definite standouts; the stripe crop top (£18), pink sash tee (£14), purple check button up (£30), lilac checked blazer (£40), lightweight khaki parka (£49), polka dot overnight bag (£20) and the khaki sweat blazer (£35).

After Kumiko Watari graduated from Kyoto’s City University of the Arts and studying at London’s Central Saint Martin’s College, she embarked to create her own visual exploration.

The AW10 collection is entitled Space Sweets, and takes inspiration from the tapestries of the sky.  These pieces are just the thing for those enjoying the fun of Opening Ceremony, and looking for a new designer to pool statement pieces from.

London’s Labour of Love and No-One, Tokyo’s Nanamica and Le Charme de Fifi et Fafa, Yokohama’s Shop Cabaret, Osaka’s Kakavaka, Saudi Arabia’s Anma and New Zealand’s Broken Puppet will be holding MIGH-T’s FW10 season.

Sienna Rose appeals because it’s not clothing for the modern hippie; you can combine the tank top to the right with a cream leather bike jacket, grey drainpipe jeans and you’re a perfect living hybrid of the cold bike woman and soft, nature driven print lover.

Sienna Rose is carried at a multitude of big box stores and boutiques – check out the directory for shops closest to your ‘hood.

Religion’s flag top and dress are easily the most eye catching of the group, and far more affordable than most pieces of this style.  The rough and tumble designs are also quite lovely, especially the Ladder 49 torn dress with tails.  The Rock Taupe dress follows the same distressed look, while the lattice dress is a more refined style within the same vein.

The brand also follows a very 60s macabre feel; the Mask Girl tee, Smoking Girl 60 dress and the Ex-Ray Skull tee are just a few examples of what Religion has available.  Last of all are the Victoria drape, Forest silk screen print skirts and the asymmetrical Simple leather jacket, which happens to be very Rick Owens.

If you’ve been wondering why you haven’t been familiarized with the delights of R13, it’s because the label only launched in FW09 – we’re only second season into this lovely label!

The denim vest to the right is a sweet morsel, and the SS10 lookbook is filled with more of the same deliciousness.

For the gotta-get-em-nows, R13 is carried by SSense (Canada & US) and Colette (Europe).

The new pieces causing such excitement is the cropped mesh tee ($101), metallic elastic waist mini skirt ($88), the geo mesh tee ($92) and the best piece of the new LnA gear being the fish bone cut out tee ($128).  All of these pieces have a personality of their own, and are affordable for each being a statement piece.

Check out the entire LnA SS10 collection for the whole picture of what they’re giving us in time for the delightful summer months.

The pieces look very cold weather friendly and minimalistic (as we expect from Wilfred). I did like the oversized batwing knits and the sheer tops, but nothing else screamed “buy me!“.

Thoughts?

I can look past the website that hasn’t really been updated since 2007, and I can even move on from Agyness Deyn being featured no matter how her hair cut goes downhill, but the de-evolution of his pieces is truly disturbing when seen from such a young, fresh designer.

The slideshow below identifies three looks from each season (not counting the t-shirt line that was One Trick Pony); Stephanie & Axl (2007), Passio Factionis (FW08), Sex/Lies & Volleyball (SS09) and the latest Color Me Happy (FW09).

You can clearly see where Holland started out with an eclectic mix of successful experimentation in Stephanie & Axl and gradually went to a far less intense and haltingly mature look with Color Me Happy. It seems that Henry has lost his drive to create his opinion pushing creations that made him what he is today, and that worries me.

I can’t tell you how much I was pining for the studded pieces of Stephanie & Axl, purple and green tartan in Factionis, and the polka dot smattering of the Volleyball collection, yet I felt almost nothing towards Color Me Happy. The statement Happy piece for me was the intense mongolian fur coat and the cut out boots, but beyond that I nothing stirred in me at all.

One thing that Holland has shown to be unstoppable in is his footwear; every season had its shoe or boot, and every season these were impeccable.  Can’t we have that for the pieces as well? I want to have this HOH cake and eat it too!

I hope this apparent visual ‘maturation’ isn’t something that anchors down the House of Holland label for much longer.

Come back to the eclectic light, Henry Holland! Life is better with a little bit of crazy!

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Oh yeah, the leather leggings are coming back.

Prepare yourself.