Paul Smith sent out a cozy collection with a glam rock, velveteen edge.
Paul Smith cast his mind back to the early part of his career with a collection that was rich in pattern, texture and fabrics that he hasn’t used for a while, namely velveteen.
He worked the lighter, finer velvet into cool, patch-pocket jackets, trousers and luscious puffers with vents at the side — all with a glam rock edge.
“Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and all of the band members I was working with in the ’70s were asking for velveteen,” said Smith during a preview. He said the fabric appealed to the rock ‘n’ roll crowd because it’s fancy but not fussy, and has a lived-in look.
Those puffers weren’t the only cozy bits in the collection: Smith showed off tweedy, zip-front knits, sweeping capes with exploded abstract flower patterns and shearlings in great colors like cobalt and aubergine.
Baby, it’s cold outside, and those layers were certainly inviting.
Smith and his team also plundered the brand’s vast Nottingham archives, pulling a plethora of plaids, checks and houndstooth for suits and caped trench coats, some adorned with little scarves at the neck.
Inspired by the busy designs of Persian rugs, Smith layered all those traditional checks with a flower print, and scattered those same flowers across everything from long scarves to houndstooth jackets.
Smith added more pattern and color to his autumnal bouquet with crossbody bags of all sizes, part of a new collaboration with Mulberry that saw the designer reinterpret the Antony bag with his signature zingy stripes and blocks of color — all in a joyous glam rock.
Inspired by the pioneering work of modernist designers and architects, our AW23 collection explores Paul Smith’s strong tailoring heritage and print expertise.
