It was a collection, and a presentation, that came straight from the heart.
Instead of a traditional runway show, Paul Smith set up theater-type seating in his Paris showroom and brought groups of models on stage before going into detail about the origins of the clothing and fabric and his inspirations for the collection.
This being Paul Smith, there were lots of gags, too. The designer showed off a Friesian cow print from his new collaboration with Barbour, and then pulled out one of those children’s toys that makes a loud “moo” sound when it’s turned upside down.
Smith continued in that vein, extracting an egg from a colorful boot that’s part of the 23-piece Paul Smith Loves Barbour collection, which lands on shop floors in October.
It was spontaneous and authentic, and good to hear Smith speak so fluently about the terrific designs and talk his audience through the origins of thornproof fabrics, space-dyed wool and the Prince of Wales check pattern.
Personal memory also played a big part in the collection. Smith used his late father’s color-drenched photographs — and doodles — for the prints on matching shirts and ties, and channeled the easy glamour of the young David Bailey and Terence Donovan dressing for outdoor fashion shoots — a novelty in the mid-1960s.
Smith sent out a stylish lineup of leather jackets and long coats in heritage fabrics that had been tossed in a tumble dryer for a “dry, scruffy, vintage” feel.
He added skinny V-neck knits to the mix, too, a throwback to the days when he couldn’t afford to make them himself, and instead bought school uniform sweaters. He paired the V-necks with wide trousers, imagining how his photographer friends might have mixed it up.
Smith delivered his message with aplomb, zipping around the stage, adjusting the models’ clothing, and pointing to the details on the fabrics like an eccentric fashion professor.
True, it wasn’t as easy as a normal runway show. “I am 108 years old — you know — and it’s hard work up here,” said the designer, who clearly loved every minute of it.
