Words by Susan Swarbrick and Teddy Jamieson
PAUL SMITH
There will come a time when Paul Smith the company is no longer led by Paul Smith the man. He turns 70 in 2016 and eventually time will catch up with him. But for the moment he remains the designer who makes one of Britain’s most successful and highly regarded fashion labels tick.
This month there’s a chance for his Scottish admirers (and anyone else passing) to get an insight into the man himself with the arrival of the exhibition Hello My Name is Paul Smith at the Lighthouse in Glasgow on January 21.
In his time Smith has designed books, rugs, cars and lamps, but these are mere side projects to his fashion lines for men, women and children. He’s long been hailed as a quintessentially British designer who offers “classics with a twist”.
He himself has suggested his style is more “Savile Row meets Mr Bean.” That hasn’t stopped pop stars and Prime Ministers wearing his clothes. He is possibly the only man who hasn’t been tainted by having an association with Tony Blair.
Smith opened his first shop in 1970 in his home town of Nottingham. Some 45 years later you can walk into a Paul Smith store (every one of them distinctive) in cities as far apart as London and New York, Paris and Taiwan. There are more than 200 Paul Smith stores in Japan alone. Time, then, for one in Glasgow or Edinburgh, surely, Paul?
Hello My Name is Paul Smith is at the Lighthouse, Glasgow, from January 21-March 20.
CATS BROTHERS
After a stellar 2015 which saw Cats Brothers awarded Young Designer of The Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards and named Womenswear Designer of the Year by ScotlandRe:Designed, even bigger things beckon over the next year.
The ready-to-wear luxury knitwear/streetwear label – the brainchild of Scots Lindsay McKean and Anna Wilkinson back in 2012 – will show its debut menswear collection at Pitti Uomo in Florence, from January 12-15 after being invited to exhibit by Vogue Italia. Then, in March, Cats Brothers will head to Hong Kong as part of ScotlandRe:Designed.
With Wilkinson having since stepped down, McKean has taken creative control and is forging ahead with the style that has seen the label championed by Vogue UK.
Past collections include Crazy Homies – born from a love of Latino street culture – and a fashion-forward, younger diffusion line, Cats Bros, which sold out in Topshop.
Think iconography, colourful embroidery, crochet and motifs. The signature pom-poms are a delight.
Visit catsbrothers.com
SILKEN FAVOURS
Victoria Murdoch’s sublime creations under her label Silken Favours are hot in demand: she has already made two scarves for the Queen and Lady Gaga’s pet dog Asia.
The 33-year-old from Aberdeen moved to London in her late teens to work with Storm Model Management, going on to study at textile design at Chelsea College of Art. She set up Silken Favours four years ago out of a love of making bespoke gifts for friends.
Silken Favours takes “the cutesy and kitsch and warps them to compose contemporary pieces of artwork” including scarves, cushions and ready-to-wear pieces.
This month sees Murdoch bound for Paris where her debut wallpaper line will be unveiled at the Maison & Objet trade fair for interior design. Also in the pipeline is a range of new products including silk ponchos, halter neck tops and swimwear.
She has been commissioned to create a bespoke design for a London hotel (details of which are still strictly under wraps) and will be part of the ScotlandRe:Designed in Hong Kong.
Visit silkenfavours.com
LE KILT
Samantha McCoach founded Le Kilt in 2014 with a vision of bringing a modern twist to her family’s tailoring heritage.
She follows in the footsteps of her grandmother who has been a kilt maker for more than 40 years. During her teens, McCoach would spend hours watching her grandmother work. Her own creations are now turning heads across the fashion world.
The 28-year-old, originally from Edinburgh but now based in London, is one of three rising UK designers newly selected for the inaugural Future British programme, a collaboration between Boden and the British Fashion Council.
Le Kilt will launch the Linton tweed collection at Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh later this month.
Visit lekilt.co.uk
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