A decade of design

From comfort tack to glam trot-ups, neither horses nor riders are wearing the same kit as 10 years ago. Georgia Guerin charts the decade’s changing styles

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RIDERS love to shop — be it for ourselves or our horses, we can’t help but look. The 2019 British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) survey, which looks at what’s happening within the equestrian sector, suggests that overall our spending is on the up compared with 2011’s findings.

To keep us interested and retain our custom, companies continually have to bring out new designs and concepts; so whether or not you consider yourself to be fashion conscious, if you’re buying new, your options will be dictated by current trends to some extent as brands try to serve the demand.

“COUNTRY fashion and footwear has seen significant growth over the past decade,” says BETA’s executive director Claire Williams.

A great example of this is the rise of luxury lifestyle brand Holland Cooper, which was established by designer Jade Holland Cooper in 2008.

“I saw a gap in the market where there was a disconnect between country events and fashion,” says Jade. “I couldn’t find anything to wear in this environment that I thought was fashionable, so I created Holland Cooper to fill that gap.”

Jade believes that, just as she was, shoppers are now looking for a point of difference — something they can’t find in another brand.

“As the market for country clothing has expanded and become more fashion orientated, the equestrian consumer is now looking for that in their technical riding wear,” she says. “They want a product that combines fashion and function, rather than sacrificing one for the other.”

Her response to this has been to launch her first equestrian collection, which is a far cry from the tweed skirts she first sold.