Paul Smith Breaks It Down
By Godfrey Deeny
(Photo by Gruber-FWD)
PARIS, Jan 28, 2003/ FWD/ --- The lettering on the thermal fleeces handed out at the Paul
Smith’s men’s show Sunday night read "Deconstructing."
Constructivism was what inspired this typically witty and polished collection.
The spirits of Alexander Rodchenko and Viktor Tatlin breathed through this collection in
the intarsia knits and graphic sweaters and overall arty sensibility.
Staged in a magnificent glass enclosed verriere of the Lycee Carnot in the 17th
arrondissement, the collection had lots of great items from Crombie coats with velvet
cuffs and collars and trousers in interior kicking fabrics, to suits with slick satin trim.
Paul cut some mean wide Western pants but paired them English pony boots.
He revamped an Alpine look, using a soft green twill to make beautiful suits with brocade
military patches.
But it was the exceptional knits, with futurist color blocks in the style of Rodchenko
or Kandinsky printed on neat red pullovers that were the standout item and the most
influential items.
In the chilly atmosphere of the covered schoolyard, even a Russian would have wrapped
up in the fleeces, which had Cyrillic numerals.
"I was in St. Petersburg, Moscow where I visited several museums, and then in New York last
year I caught up on the Constructivist retrospective. Very inspirational," said Sir Paul
post-show.
That was abundantly clear.
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