Paul Smith captures a sense of sunny optimism by turning personal photographs into key prints for spring/summer ’19 men’s and women’s collections.

In 1957 Paul’s father, Harold, bought Paul his first camera: a 35 mm Kodak Retinette. Paul has been taking pictures ever since, developing an eye for colour, humour and surrealism that has become a signature of his design work.

For spring/summer ’19 original photographs taken by Paul and his father have been transformed into unique prints that feature across the collection. Original photographs of optimistic summer settings – palm trees, flamingos and beach scenes – have been washed with pastel shades and bright acid colours to create new graphics, while double exposures contrast images from different eras.

These photo prints have then been worked throughout the collection: some appear as all-over digital prints on outerwear, while others feature as placement prints on shirts. Elsewhere, elements from the photographs are woven into fabrics to create abstract graphics.

To further reference this conversation between father and son, influences are drawn from different generations, specifically the 1950’s and the 1980’s. This is especially obvious with proportion and silhouette, where slim 1950’s shapes meet exaggerated 1980’s proportions.

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