Sir Paul Smith took his clothes to Mayfair on Monday, showing his fall 2008 collection in the ballroom of Claridge's hotel, and the result was the most sophisticated women’s fashion this designer has ever produced...
There’s always been a big dichotomy between Sir Paul’s men’s fashion that tends to reference his art school youth and his women’s wear, generally elegiac references to English gentile living. But his clothes for this coming fall were a whole new ball game, sleek existentialist chic for brainy and classy gals.
“It was Juliet Greco enjoying wearing 1950’s haute couture,” Smith told FWD backstage after sending out one model in a T-Shirt that read Café Greco – that’s the world’s classiest rendezvous in Rome for a cappuccino, by the way.
But the Smith girl would also feel at home in Paris with her sailor stripe knits, flared radzimir silk skirts, high-waisted ski pants, to the knee fine wool cocktails and absolutely sensational Impressionist at the races print rain coats.
Smith also picked up on a big trend in New York, color coordination, but took this to a whole new level. He morphed the colors used in bold rose print skirts, and used them in abstract expressionist tops, Jasper John hosiery or rather arty high heels, for a series of intriguing and often fantastic looks that made for a wonderful finale to this show and day’s catwalk events in London.
“More grown up,” was Smith’s final comment on this excellent collection as a swarm of camera crews circled backstage. More grown up and groovier and classy and cool and all together a great collection of clothes that had originality and will be great merchandise on boutique shelves. Not a bad day’s work Sir Paul.
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