Shirting and tailoring were the orders of the day at Margaret Howell and Paul Smith, giving way to a boy meets girl look...
Shirting and tailoring were the orders of the day at Margaret Howell and Paul Smith, giving way to a boy meets girl look. Whilst season on season Howell’s collections bring a classic simplicity with an androgynous edge, Paul Smith gives a women’s version of his menswear. There is a difference.
The crisp, white shirt and tailored trouser were key at both but if you think the Howell and Smith woman are the same think again. Just take their soundtracks as an indication of mood: Velvet Underground played out at Smith and Joni Mitchell at Howell.
Whilst Howell was a continuation on previous seasons, there was a definite boating feel with the Breton stripe featuring heavily, a yellow mac, neckerchiefs and even sailor hats. The colour palette came in variations on white, shades of blue with a pop of bright yellow and tomato red. One of the main highlights was a belted, long, white shirt that featured a tiny embroidered polka dot in red.
At Paul Smith his inspiration for last season – Patti Smith – still had resonance in the styling of the models dressed in trouser suits, shirts and flats (brogues and loafers), with slightly dishevelled hair. More feminine and softer looks came in the form of sheen striped skirts and floaty shirt dresses which were interdispersed between the variety of trousers: cigarette, wide-legged, low-slung pyjama and high-waisted.
Garance Doré, French style blogger on Paul Smith: “I always think the styling at Paul Smith is good. For this show I particularly liked the way the shirts were put together – it looked very smart. There were also some great pieces that are really easy to mix together.”
Text by Lucia Davies
