Paul Smith’s Kaleidoscopic Patchwork
This is a first for Paul Smith. The fashion designer is no stranger to Pitti, but had never presented a collection in Milan Fashion Week until now. For his debut, he stuck to his signature formula, delivering a simple yet surprising show. Designed like an intimate, salon-style setup, the two floors of the Milanese headquarters were transformed into a catwalk to introduce thirty looks from a collection that is the quintessence of Paul Smith’s style. From the very first look, collage revealed itself as one of the main inspirations. The prints on the shirts, jackets and ties were, in fact, created from hand-made collages, which include fragments of photographs taken by the designer himself. His eclectic and curious personality is evident in every detail, starting with the styling, which evokes an expert traveller whose style is the result of his own experiences, made of pieces purchased around the world. The silhouettes are lean and recall the tailoring of the 1950s, despite looking less severe thanks to an extremely lively colour palette, as you would expect from the English designer. Lime green, fuchsia and coral evoke summer adventures, contrasting nicely with a range of sun-bleached earthy tones inspired by a book of street photography of Cairo.
Among the selected guests present, we spotted: Daryl McCormack, Will Poulter, Alex Lutz, Zack Lugo, Jonathan Haiden, Pierre Painchaud and many others.
Text: Giuliano Deidda
Photos: Niccolò Campita
