A love letter to film’s visionary auteurs and directors, Paul Smith Men’s Fall/Winter 2022 Paris show and collection is inspired by the advent of avant-garde, arthouse and New Wave cinema.
Spanning the spectrum from icy neutrals through to vivid blues, reds and greens, our AW22 collection’s saturated palette is drawn from cinema’s evolution through the ages: from vintage sepia to dazzling technicolour.
It’s quite frankly a real pity that the pandemic prevented Paul Smith from staging a runway show and just presenting a nine-minute video, as this was the British designer’s strongest menswear statement in many years.
Inspired by the Nouvelle Vague and the great icons of indie cinema, all the way to some instant collector’s item silk and cotton shirts in bright graphic riffs on sixties French movie posters.
“Breathless was so modern. I first saw it when I was 18 and living in Nottingham and those French films were so fantastic,” enthused Smith, in a private presentation in his cut-stone Marais mansion Paris headquarters.
In the collection, he even worked in blue washes from David Lynch films and an oversized Prince of Wales double-breasted jacket that recalled, The Man Who Fell to Earth. The music for the video – where models marched in a ballroom – was composed exclusively by Paul’s old mate Richard Hartley, who did the music for Rocky Horror Picture Show and worked with Nicolas Roeg.
Lots of great hand-knit cable sweaters, caps and scarves – wonderful chunky knits handmade in Scotland in raspberry and Air Force blue.
Plus, Sir Paul created cunning volume, plaid trousers in wool crepe with unexpected inverted pleats, like the pants. Bowie wore in that iconic image of the rock legend in Smith’s wide pants and very skinny sweater. Another cinematic reference were snug shearling jackets in maroon and red in the style favored by Jean-Luc Godard.
“What’s nice is that these guys were film critics, like Godard, who said, ‘I want to do something different.’ And he made his first film for something like 40,000 pounds. So, that was a huge inspiration to me to have a go and open my own store and brand,” explained Sir Paul.
