Sir Paul Smith is making our dreams come true. He always knows how, when it comes to working that sweet spot where music and fashion meet, Paul Smith is always at the helm. Creative director and designer Tom Hingston is celebrating making his mark in music and fashion, with Paul Smith helping to commemorate his remarkable work. Staging an exhibition at the London Albemarle Street store, titled “Progress” and creating a capsule collection of clothes, with possibly the best collaborators we’ve heard of in a long time, is all part of the process. Nick Cave and The Chemical Brothers have worked with Hingston to create rockstar pieces; a blue velour bomber jacket with silver mermaid embroidery courtesy of Cave, and acid style mohair knits imagined by The Chemical Brothers. They’re obvs everything we’ve dreamed of wearing, our not-so-secret groupie fantasies on fire. Also part of the epic collaboration, Robert del Naja of Massive Attack has created three hand-finished leather jackets to be part of the exhibition. It’s well known Paul Smith loves his rock and pop, his Apple Music playlist he curated was a well rounded mix of great tunes and taste, so we’re feeling blessed that he’s recruited his connections to create pieces we can feast our eyes and money on. Can we now say we’ve been styled by Nick Cave and The Chemical Brothers?
“As a good friend of Tom’s for many years, I’m delighted to be hosting the exhibition of his work…,” said Sir Paul Smith. “The breathtakingly wonderful lenticulars of the many album artworks that Tom’s worked on are reason enough to visit the show. Tom’s unwavering focus on only ever aiming for the absolute best in terms of execution and creativity is amazing and is highlighted in the exhibition.” The pieces feature Hingston’s work for the musicians; the mermaids on the Cave bomber taken from the Lovely Creatures artwork Hingston Studio created, and the zig zags on The Chemical Brothers’ knits from the Born In The Echoes artwork. The exhibition will feature imagery for the artists above, as well as Grace Jones, Editors, Ghostpoet and Young Fathers. The fifteen sleeves will be reworked, presented as lenticular artworks, showcasing 20 years worth of material in a new light. Literally.
“At the heart of what we do – whether a physical sleeve, a billboard or a digital format, the iconography that sits at the heart of a campaign has always been paramount,” explains Hingston. “Exploring how our work translates across different media has always been central to our approach.” It’s a celebration of music, art and fashion synced so cleverly to create legendary moments that are remembered and referenced forevermore. “Something’s gotten hold of my heart,” Nick Cave sang in 1986. Our thoughts exactly.
“Progress”, the exhibition, will run from May 3rd- 20th at the Paul Smith London Flagship store on Albemarle Street, Mayfair.
