This is Gloucestershire

« Back to all Press & Latest News

Jade Holland-Cooper's debut fashion collection

 

As a teenager, Jade Holland-Cooper was convinced she wantedto work with horses.She rode and competed regularly and was so determined to make it her career she enrolled on a degree course innternational equine and agricultural business management at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. But her love for fashion and entrepreneurial spirit soon took over and she dropped out to set up her own fine clothing company – Holland Cooper. Jade's mother, Miranda Holland, was an international couture designer who travelled to Paris and Tokyo, and she was used to pottering around a fashion studio at home from a young age. “I've always been into art and fashion and everything like that,” says the 21-year-old. “My mum has a studio and I've been around it since I was very small. “I was accepted at both St Martin's and London College but ended up turning those down to go to Cirencester.” After a year-and-a-half, Jade left her course to set up Holland Cooper which makes skirts, hoodies and trousers for girls who like country pursuits but want to be fashionable too. “It's tweed with a twist,” explains Jade. “I really felt no one was doing anything that was out of the ordinary for my age range – 18 to 22. “I wanted to have something that felt unique, something which was a one-off, so you don't see anyone else in it, and not too expensive.” Jade's designs include a Tally Ho skirt for £52 and a Tattersal shooting skirt for £79 made from unusual tweeds, leather and silks. “For what they are they're not very expensive,” she says. “You could wear them shooting or at a point-to-point event or racing but you could also go out clubbing in London in one.”

Jade works from her parents' home in Suffolk and is hoping to expand the range soon to include jackets and menswear. “I do everything at the moment from designing to cutting and making,” she says. “I can do the whole lot, but the more people we employ, the more I can step back. “Obviously with my mother's experience and my father's – he runs a cereal business – I've got a business head on me too. “I want to build the name up and get people to know about it. That's always the first thing.”

Jade called on her friends to help her with the publicity pictures, as models and behind the camera – one of her friends is a professional photographer whose work has appeared in Vogue. Jade says she has absolutely no regrets about changing direction and still gets to ride her horse every day. “I'm up at 6am riding and in the studio finishing at 7pm,” she says. “It's a long day but I could never not ride. I just love it, it's a real passion of mine.” She also manages to find the time to come back to Gloucestershire regularly. “I've got lifelong friends there and go up once a week,” Jade says. “I love it.”

It was while she was studying at Cirencester that she was approached by organisers of The Royal Show in Warwickshire and asked if she'd like to exhibit there. The event attracts thousands of visitors and takes place at Stoneleigh Park from Thursday to next Sunday. “We've only done two shows and sold out at Badminton completely,” says Jade. “I've never been to the Royal Show before but we hope people will come and see us and it'll be just as popular as it was at Badminton. “We're really quite new, we've only been going for a few months, but it's really taken off and I'm thrilled.”

 

www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Jade-Holland-Cooper-s-debut-fashion-collection/story-11941057-detail/story.html