Here's to Henry - King of trendy

She has her own clothes and interior designers, she has someone who makes her cars, she's worked with some of the biggest designers in the world and she's been at the top of her game for so many years!"

Which iconic woman could Henry Holland the guy who brought cheek back into fashion and became an overnight hit in the process be describing? Naomi? Kate? Christy?

Nope. Barbie. And quite right he is: even at 50, Barbie has never lost her cool. She's never shot her mouth, shaved her head or stepped out of turn. Barbie is the consummate lady. This is why Holland, 26, decided to design a dress for the Princess of Plastic exclusively for Dubai-based boutique S*uce.

"We know everything about her personality. It's fascinating to create something for her because, although she is a fictional character, it's such a constructed reality," he says over the phone from London.

Holland's creation for Barbie is, of course, bright. The purple French lace dress with its asymmetrical shoulder is a miniature take on the dress that closed his last collection. Paired with hot pink heels the outfit is like a technicolour dream or nightmare, depending on your palette.

Holland is a self-confessed brights lover, and he thinks neons and the like go beyond just another '80s rehash trend. "Colours follow trends in the way other elements of fashion do, but I think there's always a place for colour and brights in fashion."

Colour plays a part in all of Holland's designs, but nowhere as much as in his prolific and loud T-shirts. "I'll show you who's boss Kate Moss", "I'd have him Phillip Lim", "I need a fix Harvey Nics" these slogans can now be seen all over London, New York and sometimes even Dubai, but when he first came up with the idea, Holland simply could not shift them.

Their catapult to fame is proof that the fashion industry is all about who you know. In 2006, a nervous-looking Gareth Pugh appeared on the catwalk after his London Fashion Week show wearing a bright purple T-shirt with fuchsia letters screaming "Get yer freak on Giles Deacon". After that, everyone wanted one. And we mean everyone — we've seen them on everyone from Deacon himself to the slightly less desirable Katie Price.

But does everyone want to be on one? Was Kate Moss okay about being told who's boss? "We had one person who wasn't so happy with the T-shirt," he says. Holland won't tell me who, but my mind does race Naomi Campbell? Karl Lagerfeld?

"They're never a jab, never a jab," Holland tells me, uncharacteristically insistent. "They're cheeky and rude, but always complimentary. When we did them, it was more about creating something along the lines of a band T-shirt for the fashion industry, something to show support for that person or designer. It's like an in-joke."

Speaking of which, Holland definitely sits firmly in London's "in-crowd". The designer counts Pixie Geldof and supermodel Agyness Deyn among his closest friends. He met Pixie when she was just a tween and he grew up with Deyn. The latter is one of the world's most sought after models her alabaster skin and perfect features contrast with her rock edge and peroxide short 'do, this juxtaposition making her the perfect poster child for 21st century fashion. She models extensively for Holland, but is she his muse? "That's the term the press has coined, and she is on a certain level, in the way that her style is inspiring. But then in the same way that any really close friends behave — if you live together and get dressed together you develop an all-encompassing style together."

Two childhood friends become it-designer and supermodel respectively. I ask him if he and Deyn ever sit on the couch marvelling at how far they've come? "I think we'd be idiots if we did that pretty affected. We just kind of get on with it. There have been milestone moments though, like seeing Agyness doing certain campaigns or magazine covers or seeing [a very pregnant] M.I.A. wearing a House of Holland dress at the Grammys."

Surreal moments

Were there any other moments when the surprisingly humble wunderkind was hit with his success? "I recently went to see Take That performing in front of 100 million thousand people [glad you went for fashion and not maths as a career, Hazza] and they were wearing our Tartan. That was a moment. But then there's also seeing people on the street in our Pretty Polly tights I find the whole thing kind of exciting."

Speaking of exciting, there are some moments that are surreal for Holland, "like seeing all sorts of fashion designers, supermodels and big movie stars sharing a cigarette in the toilet at a big event in New York. It was like a who's who of the entire event in the toilet, all the coolest people."

Once again, he doesn't give me names, but my mind bursts with an image of Tom Ford, Clooney, Paltrow, Chanel Iman and Lady Gaga all huddled around the basins, puffing away, chatting about the footy results.

I ask who he would most like to meet. He umms and ahhs. "Ooh, this is tough." What about Oprah, I ask? "Mmm, maybe not." Well will it be Cindy Crawford? Or perhaps a legendary designer? Nope. "Maybe Tyra, ooh, no Whitney Houston. I think she's a genius, she's fun." Do you think she has good style, I ask? "No comment, but her style throughout the eras has been inspiring."

But this man's existence isn't all celebrity parties and It-girls. As I speak to him, Holland is in the throws of putting together his latest show, adding the final touches on his collection for Debenhams, working on his next range of tights, tweaking his website and even working on a few TV projects.

"I was always destined to work in this industry," he says. Nice work if you can get it, and Holland's certainly got it.

Don't miss it

See Henry Holland's vision in purple for Barbie at S*uce, The Village Mall, until the end of this month.