MILAN, ITALY — In a season blooming with timelessness and retro elegance, Paul Smith could not have picked a better moment to unearth a trove of wardrobe classics from the archive he had developed over the years but never used. His reason? “They’re just so beautiful,” he explained during a private appointment. And the fact that some are so labour-driven means they will eventually become extinct.
Thus, it was time to bring them into the light of day or night, as the case may be, for finely cut suiting and brooches, many of which will be limited to small production runs due to their vintage quality. In true Smith fashion, the designer incorporated these elegant signature details through showcasing them in jackets and sharply cut blazer silhouettes, which stood out in dark blue textures, softly volumised by scarves and billowing accessories. The great thing about these offerings is their immediate appeal, though their simplicity is deceptive.
“It’s a very Paul Smith collection, based on young eyes looking at the archive,” Smith opined, his face filled with excitement. Storytelling, tradition, and objects have long been part of the brand’s lingua franca; in fact, the Fall collection blends a plethora of influences stretching from Paul’s personal archive and British book culture to the multilayered realm of Jean Cocteau.
Seeing these garments through fresh eyes became the guiding principle for the season, leading the designer to work closely with newly appointed Head of Menswear Design Sam Cotton, whom he mentored for over a decade prior to Cotton’s joining the house. “There’s a great return to tailoring, but in bigger shapes,” Smith said. “In our showroom, where we own over 5,000 pieces, we have the more classical bits as well, plus lots of layering.”
Still, amid the exquisiteness, Smith’s interpretation of and affection for colour is a breath of fresh air, acting as a positive response to the bleak climate of the present moment. “There’s tons of colourful linings and prints,” he said. “When we actually looked through some of the old archives, we found that the way they used to produce linings involved an incredible colour theory made up of dark, rich maroons with highlights of acid green. They used all of this for construction,” he reflected. “For us, when we saw these, we wanted to use colour as a tool to construct the garment. So within each item, there’s a tonal gradient that ties it all together.”
As traditional fashion formulas go, looking to the archive remains a key source of fascination for many creatives. Why wouldn’t it be? “Some of the prints were inspired by the work of Jean Cocteau, because I discovered by chance that his birthday is the same as mine!” Smith grinned.
“It made me start looking at his work again, because I used to be inspired by him many, many years ago – especially because he was such an unusual filmmaker. He decorated a villa in the south of France and hand-painted all the walls, and we’ve taken some inspiration for our prints from that. Cocteau wore Fair Isle sweaters with his watch over his shirt,” Smith reminisced, adding that “the way he often put two or three layers together was really good.”
Smith also referenced his father, an amateur photographer, who printed some of his photographs onto classic striped fabrics. Magpie dressing is another key component of the season, reflecting Smith’s instinctive collecting nature.
“This season, we wanted to show Paul’s eclecticism,” Cotton said. “You see all these beautiful fabrics—British checks, hunting jackets, beautiful pins,” he added, explaining how everything has been found and applied to garments, creating a sweet mash-up of styles and influences. “It’s very me: I call it eclectic, my dear!” Smith exclaimed gleefully.
by Chidozie Obasi