Fashion elder compères his own celebration of designs revived from his archive by design director Sam Cotton
This January marks the first menswear fashion week in Milan without a familiar constant in Giorgio Armani, after the designer died aged 91 in September. But the brand will still show on Monday, and there are other elder statesmen on the schedule in the shape of Ralph Lauren, 86, and Paul Smith, who will be 80 this year.
Paul Smith showed his collection on Saturday evening at the brand’s Italian HQ. Its playful nature was evident from the format as Smith himself compèred, with descriptions of the designs and inspirations over a microphone. The clothes demonstrated all the hallmarks that fans have come to love – bold prints, great suiting (this time oversized) and bright colours on sweaters and shirts.
This is the second time Smith has shown his menswear collection in Milan. At a preview, he explained the compère format was a homage to the shows he saw as a young man at the ateliers of Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent in the 1970s.
“I really wanted to do a salon show,” he said. “Because we’re still an independent company, and I still own it, it’s so personal in today’s corporate world, I think it’s really interesting.”
