Paul Smith reworks archive in salon-style show at Milan menswear week

Paul Smith presented a salon-style menswear show at the brand’s Italian HQ in Milan, reworking pieces from the label’s archive as part of the city’s January menswear week. The show’s playful format saw Smith himself compèred, describing designs and inspirations over a microphone. The collection displayed hallmarks of the house — bold prints, oversized suiting and bright colours on sweaters and shirts — and included reworked items such as a jacket first seen in 1999 and a rust-coloured grandad shirt that Smith said he “dyed on a gas cooker in a saucepan.” Smith said the format was a homage to salon shows he saw in the 1970s and that the collection was partly inspired by working with new design director Sam Cotton and Cotton’s explorations of “5,000 designs found in the Paul Smith archive,” which led them to revive and rework older pieces.

It was the second time Smith has shown his menswear collection in Milan. The event comes in a year marked by change: this January is the first Milan menswear week without Giorgio Armani after the designer died in September, although the Armani brand will still show on Monday.

Key Topics

Culture, Paul Smith, Sam Cotton, Milan Menswear Week, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani