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Notting Hill Circa ‘66

Referencing a time when freedom was in the air and everyone was just having a good time, Paul Smith adopted 1960s tailoring elements and styles to create his SS17 collection. Looking back on his first few trips to London during the 1960s, and the legendary Notting Hill Carnival that started in 1966, Paul Smith adapted those famous sixties styles into something more contemporary. Using modern, lightweight construction techniques and breathable Italian wools, he fused tailoring and sportswear shapes to create a modern take on that Notting Hill Carnival spirit.

Walking Rainbow

Colourful clothes are a Paul Smith trademark. Never one to shy away from the brightest of hues, for SS17 Paul Smith thought it important to brighten up our lives in these dark and stressful times. West Indian warmth was spread through the collection, with yellow, green and red hues forming brightly coloured stripes and tropical tartans. Suits in bright orange, green, yellow and purple were some of the highlights, along with multi-pocketed jumpsuits in midnight blue, a strawberry-embroidered olive jacket and blue jeans with rainbow patches and flower embroidery. Even the catwalk was punchy and elated, formed of one long, sweeping rainbow stripe: appropriate, purposefully or otherwise, given the show coincided with Pride celebrations in the UK.

Peace and Positivity

The season’s unapologetic message was peace and positivity. His bold graphic print was a hope that next year will be happier and less turbulent than the one we’re living through, a message that was spread throughout this collection (some of the models even cracked a smile: a rarity at the usually po-faced fashion week). The casting of those models mirrored the multi-cultural reality of London, and together with the sportswear shapes, reflected the contemporary world that longtime tweaker-of-tradition Smith is helping to make a brighter, happier and more colourful place for SS17.

Words: Annabel Lunnon

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It’s Frieze week! London is brimming with artists, art-lovers and the créme de la créme of the art world. With the city awash with events, we’re here to help you make the most of the art takeover, and today our spotlight is on ‘Eduardo and Emma Paolozzi: A Celebration of Art and Life’. The exhibition, held at Paul Smith’s Albermale Street store, is a never-seen-before insight into the eclectic, often eccentric and always surprising world of Eduardo Paolozzi alongside jewellery designed by his daughter Emma.

Set up as Eduardo’s studio, unseen works by the pop art legend are presented alongside original sketches delving into his creative process – all complemented by Emma’s jewellery – which itself draws inspiration from her father’s extensive artistic career. Eduardo, famous for his strong sense of independence, has always avoided working with agents and galleries, so this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see a crazily impressive selection of his pieces. With Paul Smith’s famed eye for quirky yet classic design, an exhibition endorsed by the man himself is never going to be anything but a must-see.

Eduardo and Emma Paolozzi: A Celebration of Art and Life will be presented at Paul Smith, No. 9 Albermale St, until Saturday 24^th October.

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Changing His Stripes

Paul Smith has been quietly tinkering with his iconic brand. So quietly, in fact, you may not have heard him do it. He withdrew his famous multi-stripe a few years ago and has, since then, been pushing his designs in a slightly more progressive direction: his SS16 menswear collection was luxuriously flowing with long, slouchy jackets and wider trousers that felt like a valuable addition to the 70s-inspired movement we’ve seen so much of lately. This gently directional flavour was present in the women’s show as well, which featured plenty of his signature trouser suits except that this time they were a little looser, double breasted and quietly chic (even in a near-Klein blue).

Restrained Brights

Generally, the execution of lively colours was refined, coming across as attractively eccentric rather than garishly flash – Paul Smith’s trademark in many ways. A cropped sleeve, collarless wrap coat came in a glossy tangerine shade that felt elegant against simple white trousers while painterly pops of colour in lightly patterned dresses were muted by the soft, graceful cuts: nothing overdone, nothing in excess.

Discreet Innovation

The most original piece came in the form of a dungaree-dress-trouser hybrid that finished off a rakishly high-waisted pant-suit with crossover straps up top. It sounds strange in print, but looked great in reality when placed over a vivid t shirt to shake up a sleek black ensemble that was part formal, part louche. Refinement was the watch word, and that’s certainly no bad thing amid the PVC-charged politicism that accompanies much of LFW – though of course, we love that as well.

Photographer: Thurstan Redding

Words: Benji Walters

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Bikes are back

Riding a bike to work in timeless fashion just got a whole lot easier. Paul himself is said to have a love for cycling, so compiling a collection perfectly suited to the two-wheeled travelling niche who, until now, could only be seen in lycra seems like an idea that could really transform the pairing of travel and style. And what would a presentation of high-performance, easy-movement suits be without world champion, freestyle stunt cyclist Ben Savage putting it to the test? As he curbs, rolls and balances on a series of art sculptures; the proven success of the practical pieces unfold before our very eyes.

Functionally fashionable

One thing that is ever evident with Paul Smith’s “A Suit to Travel” series is that the menswear designers’s role has expanded from simply creating pieces that look the part to creating pieces that look the part and function in the real world. Here is a collection designed with ultimate practicality at the heart of it’s ethos and a contemporary awareness in it’s construction. Using the respected cloth maker – Loro Piana – as the right hand in achieving the confident flexibility and easy-moving suits, high twist yarn is woven into the comfortably flexible summer suits. Significance? No creases and no over-heating while travelling. Winner.

Colour, lots of it

True to his trademark, Paul Smith has of course created a showcase of vibrant colour. A pastel palette holds the base, and summer citrus hues of yellow, green, dusty purple and blue are woven into the check. The result is a vivid windowpane checkered suit you just know has Paul Smith’s name on the label. Season appropriate and stamped with Paul Smith’s eclectic use of colour, the collection reinvents the way in which we wear, pushing designer clothing and day-to-day errands towards a mutual exclusivity.

Words: Hannah Sargeant

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Try Paul Smith’s creaseless #ASuitToTravelIn on for size, boys. As for you ladies, master masculinity in the androgynous AW15 line – previewed here.

Taken from the Summer Fashion Issue of Wonderland.

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We all know Paul Smith for his classic menswear designs and iconic multi coloured stripes. The designer, whose collections can be described as quintessentially British, will be the first retailer worldwide to launch this new line in a pop up store in Floral Street. This range was born out of the meeting between the Italian design company Seletti and ToiletPaper, Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari’s image-only magazine.

Combine the two and let Paul Smith scatter his wacky touches over these surrealist designs to create a weird and wonderful collection of plates, mugs, bowls, coffee tables, mirrors and even soaps and tea towels. So, will you be eating your dinner from a retro porcelain plate or showering with Paul Smith soap?

The Paul Smith and ToiletPaper pop-up store will be open 15th of April to the 6th of May in Covent Garden. Further details can be found on the Paul Smith website.

Words: Sarah Barnes.

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Whether you’ve hung up this season’s most outrageous outfit or jumped on the next plane to Milan, the dust and glitter leftover from LFW is just beginning to settle. It’s unlikely that you’ll forget the best moments from the AW15 shows but we’ve listed our top seven just to make sure. You can thank us when you’re back from Paris.

Shouty Slogans

Ashley Williams was serving up truth with her patches. “Improve your image, be seen with me,” words anyone wearing the new collection can say wholeheartedly. Ashish’s “SEX” jumper will certainly sell, proving the saying true and Sophia Webster’s never-fail clutches were adorned with messages of “Touch my Clutch” and our favourite piece from her was the “Sexy Back” backpack. Simple, effective, cute.

Furry Friends

Obviously, for AW, fur was everywhere. Our favourites were of the patchwork variety at Ashish or on the hems of latex macs at Sibling (is there some sort of waiting list we need to be on for one of those btw?). The cutest was faux and worn on the Martian models at Shrimps, with their selection of fluff trimmed peep toes, striped coats and petal shaped clutches. Vibrantly coloured, utterly dreamy and probably softer than the real bunnies at Marcus Lupfer.

Street Walkers

Ashish made it ok for us to wear hooker boots, whether they’re PVC, lace-up, platformed, or all three. Over at Fyodor Golan they came in thigh-high baby pink patent styles, whilst Ed Marler took on a trashy tone too with his laced trousers and his models worked it in the highest energy show of the season with one of the best set designs and soundtracks too.

Boho is Back

Tassels and fringing galore were on show at Burberry and Temperley. Temperley luxed it up with jewel colours and sequins whereas Burberry stuck to the classic 70s earth tones, suede and florals. Topshop Unique also snuck into retro territory with au naturel hair, high necklines, shearling and the sweetest dandelion prints and embroidery, not to forget Paul Smith’s mustard shearling number, sure to be a favourite when autumn comes rolling in.

Gothic Girls

Vivienne Westwood always has something dark or devilish and this season was no exception with Rollacoaster cover girl Daisy Lowe taking to the catwalk in a hip hugging black lace gown, with scary almost industrial neck chains to up the ante. Giles was the real goth girl collection though with pieces straight out of a fairytale. Exaggerated bows, ruffs and dominatrix PVC gave the perfect balance between traditional and contemporary and black slick lips teamed with french plaited hair combined girlishness and witch-chic.

Pretty in Pink

It’s a tried, old and untrue stereotype that’s blue’s for boys and pink’s for girls but you would have taken it as gospel at LFW. Every shade of blush, petal, peach, magenta and even Pepto Bismol was on show just about everywhere. House of Holland, Ashley Williams, Simone Rocha and Sibling skirted around the saccharine with PVC and latex infused collections whereas Molly Goddard embraced the fluff and frills of the colour with her dreamy fairytale tulle creations.

One of the Boys

No nonsense was had at Margaret Howell, Paul Smith, Belstaff or Joseph. Clean lines, wintry colour palettes and heavy focus on shirts, coats and tailoring at all three brands made a more masculine trio of collections. Loose cuts at Paul Smith will make everything look like you borrowed it from your boyfriend or your brother, in a good way, that is.

Words: Lily Walker

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Paul Smith has always been a supporter of the arts, and of young fine artists, with his outpost at No. 11 Ablermarle Street becoming a mainstay in the London art scene since it opened last year. Now, to celebrate the Frieze Art Fair 2014, Paul Smith is teaming up with art:i:curate, a crowd curating platform, to allow the digital community a chance to curate a forward thinking exhibition of works by emerging London-based artists.

To be in with a chance of curating the show all you need to do is sign up to art.i.curate, browse through a selection of art, picking your favourites, and then upload a profile image and bio, explaining what kind of art you like and what inspires you.

The lucky entrants who are chosen will not only get to be involved in the exhibition and featured in the show, but they’ll also be interviewed for Paul Smith’s blog and and art.I.curate’s journal. The final exhibition will be open to everyone. Sign up here.

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