Paul Smith's 'Rebel Debutantes'
Written by: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
LONDON, Feb 25, 2002/ FWD/ --- You remember that old saw about Paul Smith's women's collections
never quite capturing the spirit and style of his men's wear? Well now you can archive it.
On Tuesday morning in London, Smith presented a fall 2002 women's collection that was elegant,
eccentric, cool and full of humor.
In short, it had everything one has come to expect from Smith's men's shows, and was almost
certainly the best women's collection Sir Paul has designed so far.
"The theme was 'rebel debutante.' About staying up all night, then going down to feed the chickens
in your dress and daddy's overcoat, made in Savile Row," Smith told FWD backstage after the show.
Smith explained that the show was "all about contradictions," and that was apparent from the first
outfits, which mixed unexpected fabrics like nylon and cashmere; and unusual clothes combinations
such as mod parkas over party frocks.
After a selection of check woolen skirts with lace hems, cargo pants, floral silk blouses and
kissing-pink padded mini jackets, Smith really got the photographers snapping with a bizarre
pink outfit, composed of a pink cashmere cardigan worn over a matching silk handkerchief skirt
bearing the menu from a scruffy English café.
The contradictions were also apparent in the posh invitations hidden in cheap envelopes, and
the offbeat location.
The show was staged in the back of a rabbit warren of Victorian cellars, somewhere practically
underneath London Bridge.
The show space felt like a decaying grand ball with silver walls and a catwalk above, which
hung a score of old chandeliers.
The soundtrack had everything from mambo music to a weird remix of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."
Like the Americans, the British sure do love their flag, and Smith ended with an eccentric
amazon attired in a multi-colored velvet Union Jack robe.
Somewhat surprisingly, the collection contained quite a few military looks, with a slew of very
wearable suits composed of four-pocket officer's jackets and to-the-knee skirts in a World War I
brown woolen.
"The military look? I was surprised by that myself. The truth is, I just loved the fabric,"
smiled the British knight.
Paul Smith Women
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