January 23, 2017 |
What’s that gamine creature coming towards us? A… woman? Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, that was a man and woman opening Paul Smith’s AW17 show today, trotting down the catwalk in beautiful synchronicity. Because this, for the very first time, was co-ed, which means that, in terms that don’t sound like an American high school sports team, Paul chose to show his men’s and women AW17 collection at the same time. Call it a concentrated Paul Smith hit, straight to the jugular. Makes sense really – Paul’s man and woman have always been a similar sort of a person. British. Bit eccentric. A touch of the rock ’n’ rolls. Un peu quirky. And Britishness was what Paul celebrated here. We’re getting a bit of Lake District hiker from the boys, the sort of man who knows how to read a map and probably drives a land rover. Or maybe we’ve been a little waylaid by one look – that amazingly norm anorak worn with a fairisle jumper beneath. Either way, this was an ode to British fabric, apparently, inspired by those very first British mills that Paul used – lovely woollen tartans and checks, touches of paisley, rich autumnal shades. Tailoring was at the heart of the offering – he is the reigning kind of British tailoring after all – the silhouette lean and narrow, making it perfectly translated on to the women who also trod the catwalk. Would we go as far to say it was unisex? Maybe menfolk aren’t quite ready for a feather-print dress just yet, but either way, man and woman here are very much in sync. Bravo Mr Smith!
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
