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Young at Heart
Paul Smith 2017 Fall/Winter Collection

“Young-at-Heart” is a perfect term to describe British national treasure fashion designer Paul Smith. The 71-year-old has been busy touring his solo exhibition “Hello, My Name is Paul Smith” around the world, yet he still manages to focus on fashion design, and it is still full with as much liveliness, as when he established his eponymous label in 1970.

For autumn/winter 2017, Paul Smith decided to show both his men’s and women’s collections altogether for the first time, as he wanted to show both collections shared a direct design association. They also delivered familiarity as Smith glanced back to his foundations, nodding to many of his aesthetic hallmarks.

During his early years in the fashion industry, Smith was employed by the International Wool Secretariat to search the country for innovative clothing design. In an echo of this, the new collection highlights tactile tailoring fabrics sourced from British mills including Lovatt and Hardy Minnis. Traditional British patterns, such as Prince of Wales check and Black Watch tartan, are also prominent. Scottish cashmere in muted colours and Fair Isle knits featuring woven charm motifs contribute additional texture and tone. In shirting, classic floral prints, designed in-house, and exclusive Liberty prints introduce another British signature.

Tailoring is always a highlight of Paul Smith’s design. For this collection, although men and women brush shoulders on the catwalk, tailoring is distinctly engineered to suit each form. Prints another cornerstone of Paul Smith, are especially well executed this season. A colourful feather motif runs throughout the collection; printed onto silk, hand-embroidered onto cashmere coats and applied onto leather accessories.

Paul Smith also adds a pre-fall/winter 2017 collection. The house takes inspiration cues from the drawings and collections of British naturalists and offers a new and vivid monkey motif as a bold allover pattern on shirts, backpacks and small leather goods.

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