Celebrity Life

With last month's Paris Fashion Week held completely in the digital sphere, labels presented their latest offerings in pre-filmed videos or live streams.

The post Menswear designers address the pandemic with both hope and despair in their collections appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

With last month's Paris Fashion Week held completely in the digital sphere, labels presented their latest offerings in pre-filmed videos or live streams.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Half a century, by any measure, is a milestone that warrants reflection.

The British designer Sir Paul Smith is doing just that in his Covent Garden office, a place instantly recognisable from the piles of books, walls covered with artwork and a vast collection of curios from around the world.

“After 50 years, one of the most joyful things [of the business] is being an independent company,” he says. “But equally that’s also the biggest burden right now, as there isn’t the support system of a big group ... But we’ve been good, and the great joy of independence is spontaneity.”

This uneasy year for fashion, for Smith like others, has signalled a recalibration of a well-worn system. There’ve been the obvious stressors – but even with a cancelled show and international book tour, Smith
hasn’t become too emotional over the recent state of affairs, as he’s “been too busy with everything else”.
“I honestly think that, out of this year, the affection for a brand that’s so down to earth and real will
hopefully shine through in a greedy corporate world,” he says. “Younger people, who are more socially and environmentally conscious, will hopefully take note.”

[caption id="attachment_211164" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Paul Smith with one of his customised Merican bicycles.[/caption]

With the business at 50, and Smith himself an energetic 74, the designer admits that it’s been a long, exhilarating but rather organic journey to the top. A young cyclist who aspired to become a professional rider, Smith’s dreams were dashed by a severe accident on his bike at 17, which rendered him bed-bound in hospital for months. After that, he found himself drawn to design and fashion while hanging out with an art-school crowd and meeting his future wife Pauline at 21.

“‘Art-school culture’, those words you used – it’s fantastic, it’s really true, that’s exactly what Paul Smith is, even today,” he says, adjusting his famous specs. The work from those schools is “always a bit wacky, radical and experimental ... You have to be brave enough to try new things ... and be ridiculous.”

Smith’s first store was a tiny, single 3-metre-by-3- metre box room “down a funny old corridor with no windows” at 6 Byard Lane in the provincial English city of Nottingham. When Paul Smith Vetements Pour l’Homme opened in 1970, he was just 24 years old. Soon his popularity grew, fuelled by his positive personality, and footholds into Europe were made with a show debut at Paris Fashion Week in 1976, held at a friend’s flat on Boulevard de Vaugirard. After starting with one men’s collection, his business now encompasses fashion for men, women and children, shoes, accessories, fragrance and home furnishings.

That art-school culture core “is very British in a way”, Smith says, and certainly the beginnings of the label were very British. There were no technical fabrics at the time – only local tweed, corduroy, wools and shirting were available to the young designer. “But my skill was persuading a mill to make me these fabrics in very unusual colours: pink, lilac, lemon or blues, instead of the usual schoolboy palette of burgundy,
black grey or country colours. It was quite revolutionary at the time.”

[gallery ids="211166,211165"]

Between the beautiful tailoring and fabrics, Smith pioneered a more playful, less formal approach to menswear in the ’80s, capturing the more relaxed sentiment of the fashion zeitgeist. The introduction of womenswear came in 1993, with the same approach to tailoring. While unisex-style dressing has become fashionable again in these past few seasons, Smith championed mixing men’s and women’s styles decades ago.

“I’ve always loved that boyish look,” the designer explains. “Pauline has a very slim figure and she’s
always enjoyed wearing a men’s-style shirt or a classic suit. I also enjoy how old film stars like Katherine Hepburn or Audrey Hepburn dressed, and a bit later on the Kennedys and American socialites, who often wore a shirt and capri pants with a little loafer.”

In the ’80s, Grace Coddington of US Vogue was soon putting Smith’s oversized shirts, raincoats, knits and blazers on the magazine’s pages, worn by superstar models such as Linda Evangelista and captured by the likes of Patrick Demarchelier and Bruce Weber. “It was a real breakthrough for me,” Smith recalls.

After Smith’s Fashion Week debut, his quirky, wearable eccentricism quickly found fans in France, then Italy. Soon it was Japan, where there’s still a cultish Paul Smith fandom. In Hong Kong, with its British colonial ties, the label immediately secured a strong and steady foothold in the market. That soon spread to Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China. Going global made Smith one of British fashion’s most recognisable names.

[caption id="attachment_211172" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Paul Smith store on Melrose Avenue is one of the most Instagrammed buildings in Los Angeles.[/caption]

Today, his bright-pink modernist store on Melrose Avenue has become one of the most Instagrammed buildings in Los Angeles. But Smith opened his first American store 40 years ago in New York on 16th Street and 5th Avenue. Now with Paul Smith in 17 countries across five continents and more than 17,000 points of sale globally, the designer says that his Brit-born brand “is obviously very international now”.

“I’d get bored if all I did was fashion,” he says, glancing at the all the design objects and mementos scattered around him in the office. “Working on all these collaboration items, it’s a whole different mindset. The process of designing a light or a watch or some spectacles, they’re all contributing back to the world of a designer.”

Such range speaks of Smith’s approach to style as a part of creative culture at large. Each of his stores is different from the others – there’s no template, but a preference for architectural and interior individuality that’s dependent on locations. He’s worked on collaborations with the likes of Land Rover, Rapha, New Balance, Penguin Classics, John Lobb, Caran d’Ache and the Manchester United football team. Then there are the Mercian bicycles, the Giro d’Italia race and Leica camera collaborations, which touch on his original passion for cycling and his “other” main skill, photography.

“As a cyclist, designing the famous pink jersey for the Giro d’Italia race was just great, and it was blessed by the Pope – that was amazing,” says Smith with a smile. “And if I hadn’t become designer, I probably would have ended up as a photographer. My dad was an amateur photographer and I started taking photographs when I was 11. And when I was doing other jobs for money while running my first store, I was a freelance photographer for great magazines like Architectural Digest and Casa Vogue ... So obviously, the Leica collaboration was a favourite – it was my dad’s dream to own one and he never got to.”

[caption id="attachment_211173" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An outfit featuring the famous Spaghetti print from Paul Smith's 50 anniversary capsule.[/caption]

Smith was, in fact, one of the first fashion designers seriously to employ photographic print on fabric in the ’80s, using his own captures. And to celebrate his brand’s 50th anniversary, on September 30, he launched a special capsule of reimagined archive prints (including his famous Spaghetti print) on men’s and women’s sporty- street styles. Bold, contemporary, graphic prints appear on track tops, hoodies and a range of accessories.

There’s also the October launch of a book by Phaidon that celebrates his half-century – but instead of a typical fashion retrospective, based largely on runway archives, it features 50 curated items of special meaning to Smith and the brand, each signifying a year of business.

The freethinking art-school culture of the label still informs his attitude now, Smith says. He runs his meetings with a high sense of openness and experimentation.Throw in Smith’s own insatiable curiosity and a magpie- like proclivity for collecting, and the result is a unique ability to keep doing the unexpected.
“What’s exciting and humbling to me is that we’ve always had a relevance within the industry, and a lot of our clients have enjoyed my work for a long time. What’s really brilliant is that we have lots of younger customers too,” he explains. “Plus, we’ve got good manners, we’re nice people and we behave properly.”

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Bearing in mind the scale, scope and longevity of the label, there’s nothing more charming than a boss who, 50 years on, still works the shop floor on Saturdays, as Smith does at his Mayfair store. In the often-vicious world of high fashion, how strangely refreshing is it to encounter a designer renowned for niceness, rather than melodrama. Surely that’s partly been a key to the label’s longevity over the past five decades.
Fashion the Paul Smith way remains thought-provoking, even 50 years on, with a classic-with-a-twist aesthetic that’s inclusive rather than elitist.

There’s also that compelling message of hope, done with a cheeky British wink. You can see it in the collections, the vibrancy of autumn/winter 2020 – bolts of graphic contrasting colours, fluid tailoring and the juxtapositions of ideas.

“Irreverence and contradictions have become so important in a world that’s become so clichéd in some ways,” Smith explains when asked how he manages to keep things so fresh over so many years. “So much of it is so formulaic in this industry, but we’ve never ever had that approach.”

The post Paul Smith Reflects on Humble Beginnings, Spontaneity and 50 Years in the Business appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Plus, other fashion news for this month.

The post Paul Smith launches his monograph appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Plus, other fashion news for this month.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

By now, your bosses and colleagues have probably seen more of your abode than you would've ever expected to show them.

With many of us working from home these days, meetings held over video conferencing apps the likes of Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become the new normal. Inevitably, this means letting colleagues into our residences — albeit virtually — and having them catch glimpses of it via our backdrop. Depending on where your workspace is located, this view could range from a boring blank wall to windows or cluttered bookshelves.

Your makeshift office may not be the most glamorous, but there are several easy interior design tricks that you can employ to quickly jazz up the background of your Zoom calls.

Textiles and cushions

If your workstation of choice is the couch or bed, all it takes is a few snazzy throw pillows wrapped in eye-catching fabrics and prints to provide visual interest in the space behind you. Consider dressing your cushions in the Armani/Casa Exclusive Textiles by Rubelli collection, which is inspired by modern art — specifically works by Henri Matisse, Vasilij Kandinskij and Paul Klee.

It showcases striking colour blocks embellished with embroideries, ikat details and intertwined motifs. These are available in various patterns and shades ranging from pastel to neutral hues. More details here.

Houseplants and greenery

Adding houseplants to your home office will help the space look less spartan and bland. Smaller plants like cacti, succulents and spider plants can be displayed on shelves or tables, while larger ones such as philodendrons, snake plants and ZZ plant (Zanzibar Gem) can be placed on the floor to break the monotony of blank walls.

Online plant retailer Flora Houses offers a wide variety of houseplants that will thrive indoors and are generally low-maintenance. Its range includes Japanese fir, fiddle leaf fig and Bird of Paradise. The store provides free doorstep delivery with a minimum spend.

Artworks and paintings

Perhaps houseplants may seem like too much of a commitment, or you simply don't have green fingers. This is where paintings and art pieces make an easier alternative. You can simply hang a couple of them on the wall that constantly forms your video call backdrop.

An Andy Warhol or Basquiat will certainly impress your co-workers, but your art doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or by big name artists. Consider procuring artworks instead from indie galleries such as Odd One Out, which boasts an array of creations by local and international printmakers and illustrators. We can't take our eyes off the above acrylic painting by Micke Lindebergh, which is titled 'Small Yellow Flower Pot' and features colourful blooms accented by quirky squiggles and bright hues.

Statement ornaments and furniture

Inject a dose of quirk into your meeting setup by peppering your background with assorted decorative items and statement furniture pieces. These can be anything from figurines to colourful tiles and dramatic room dividers.

Our go-to is Lala Curio, which is a whimsical wonderland of objets d'art such as brass monkey sculptures, cloisonné birds, and, one of our favourites — an adorable trio of cranes adorned with rock crystal feathers and perched on crystal balls.

Wallpaper

Why settle for one specially curated work area, when you can turn your whole room into an Instagram-worthy space? Wallpaper is a bold and easy solution — if every wall in your room is clad in beautiful prints, you can essentially park yourself in any corner and still have an envy-inducing Zoom backdrop.

Designer wallpaper has seen a resurgence in recent years, and we're obsessed with Christian Lacroix's exquisite Oiseau Fleur vinyl wallpaper, which depicts vibrant botanical and bird motifs against a silk effect embossed base. It comes in two colourways of pink and grey.

(Main image: Brina Blum/ Unsplash; Featured image: Christian Lacroix)

The post Photo Shoot: Purple Haze appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Fifty metres underground — this is the depth that local winemakers chose when they decided to store 10,000 wine bottles in the Aven d'Orgnac caves, an underground tourist attraction located at the southern end of the limestone plateau of the Gorges de l'Ardèche.

The experiment began in March 2018, when a new storage facility was specially created in a disused access tunnel to allow wine to mature in what amounts to a highly stable and peaceful environment.

A living product that ages best in undisturbed darkness, the wine will have benefited from ideal conditions: A constant temperature of around 12°C and an all-year-long rate of humidity of over 95%.

On December 12, 1,000 bottles of Côtes du Vivarais "Grand Aven 2017" from this treasure trove will be passed from hand to hand by a chain of human volunteers who will bring them back to the surface after two years underground. Thereafter, they will go under the hammer with a range of other local vintages in an auction with modest reserve prices.

Lots on offer will include 150 magnums of Terra Helvorum 2017 starting at 30 euros, 350 bottles of 2015 Terra Helvorum for as little as 15 euros and 350 bottles of Grand Aven 2016 from just 10 euros.

On land and sea

These days, experiments to store wine deep underground are very much in vogue in France. On June 3 of this year, 500 bottles were placed in racks at a depth of 103 metres in caves in Padirac under the watchful eye of Serge Dubs, the Best Sommelier of the World in 1989.

The first of these to return to the surface will be brought up for an initial tasting in the spring of 2021. And let's not forget that this experiment is focused on a very particular wine: A Clos Triguedina Cahors, christened Cuvée Probus, which has been produced to honour the 130-year anniversary of the Padirac Chasm.

Surprisingly enough, this new approach to maturing wine was initially inspired by a find at sea. In 2010, divers in the Baltic discovered a wreck containing what turned out to be a cargo of champagne, which was probably on its way to 1840s Russia.

The wave of experimentation that is now ongoing began when the bubbly, which was made by such houses as Veuve Clicquot, Heidsieck and the now defunct Juglar, was discovered to still be delicious after some 170 years under water.

In Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the French Basque country, winemaker Emmanuel Poirmeur has registered a patent for a process that involves vinifying wine in special vats at a depth of 15 metres under water. For its part, Leclerc-Briant set a record when it vinified one of its champagnes at a depth of 60 meters under the Atlantic in 2012, not surprisingly the vintage was christened "Abyss."

The post The 7 Handbags of the Season appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Innovations like the Z Zegna Techmerino Wash & Go collection are changing the way suits are being worn.

The post Tech in luxury: suits that do not require dry cleaning appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Innovations like the Z Zegna Techmerino Wash & Go collection are changing the way suits are being worn.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.