PAUL SMITH AND RAPHA SS11

Paul Smith, as the legend goes, was planning to be a professional cyclist when he had an awful accident. Soon after he starting hanging out with a bunch of hip artists and musicians where he met his wife Pauline, a designer. Eventually Pauline stopped and Paul took over (no, their names are not a joke). His company became hugely popular and successful and so it makes perfect sense that the bike-mad designer eventually tried his hand at designing bike-wear. 

It turns out there is a whole race of people obsessed with cycling. As we Cape Town locals know. Rapha are performance road-wear specialists and recently joined Paul Smith in collaborating some designer cycling duds. I previously showed you the video, and to accompany it here is a series of photographs for their SS11 campaign.

But do take a look at the video below which I stumbled upon this morning. Thoroughly interesting to see the man himself talking about his cycling past and how modern cyclists are not as "stratospheric" as other sports stars. For their clothing go to Rapha's webiste to see the collection.

Paul Smith Apple Podcast

In case you couldn't make it in person, the lovely people at iTunes have uploaded the speech that Sir Paul gave at the covent garden Apple store on the 27th September 2010. He decided to make it an answer and question based event. Dylan Jones, the Editor of GQ was asked along to ask the questions. The podcast can be downloaded here.

Paul Smith and Dylan Jones

Paul Smith MAN 2

You may already assume that Paul Smith's follow up to MAN is a mere update with a few extra notes, but MAN 2 is vastly different to it's predecessor. Containing an invigorating explosion of citrus; grapefruit and mandarin with the added English touch of Granny Smith apples.

The spicy heart really warms on the skin with a combination of nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon and is then softened by touch of lavender and cashmere wood. The sensual woody base is a real cool Paul Smith touch, cedar and sandalwood with the clean note of white musk.

Available for R550 for 100ml or R390 for R50ml. (Call 011-477-1074)

Mad Hatter Scarf by Paul Smith

It makes sense-- Paul Smith being the 'out of the box' designer that he is, and Johnny Depp being the... well the way 'out of the box' actor that he is.

Depp stars in the highly anticipated 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' featuring an incredible cast which includes Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter.

Last night I went to watch 'Dear John'. And FYI I got popcorn salt in my eyes, they weren't tears, okay! Anyway during the preview I noticed a scarf worn by the Mad Hatter. I had a feeling it was Paul Smith and later investigated. It is infact Paul Smith, from his Ladies 'Black Label' collection which is available at my wardrobe here in both black and pink!

Paul Smith | Fall 2010

Classic with a twist, that's what Paul Smith has said of his often off-centre designs. And it's just these small details that have made him so popular amongst men who want something different. In a new collection of large checks, shiny peacock coloured suiting and floral shirts. Although Paul Smith is one of my favorite designers I found myself a little underwelmed with his newest show. However the pieces individually are, as ever, gorgeous. The cape, the coats and the blazers are timeless and beautifully made. You cannot fault Paul Smith on quality.





These suits are simply fantastic. The colours are in line with what we have seen this season but the structure of his mainline suiting is unparalleled. Which is why they cost R22 000. And below a couple looks that didn't quite fit in elsewhere but I liked.

Wishlist- Check!

Those Paul Smith Desert Boots I wanted and mentioned HERE are finally residing beside my Paul Smith Brogues and Boots at home! They are the perfect accessory in all their tan goodness! Worn here with a white shirt, rolled up jeans and folded up sleeves.

The Desert Boot returns

This fashion must-have may appear odd to the first glance but I assure you when worn properly this look can serve you well. The Desert boot- or 'veld skoen' as it's affectionately named here in South Africa has been around for a long time. As seen here by Clarks in their celebration of 60 years of the Desert Boot.





But it's Paul Smith (of course) who produced the best version in my opinion. These fantastic scuffed Achilles Desert Boots are hot!

Made in Suede this shoe comes in Oakwood and Sigaro, but I've battled to find them online. I believe there are still some left in the Paul Smith store.The dip dye process consists of the uppers being immersed in dyes and tumbled in large wooden drums to colour the upper leather, lining and stitching.







And the how would you wear this shoe?



http://www.tobi.com
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HOMECOMING by PHIL POYNTER

I wait around like a child at Christmas when it comes to GQStyle. Really the only magazine out there for mens fashion, which nurtures the same integrity and qualities I try very hard to keep in mind with my own blog. It's strong journalism meeting cutting edge fashion and the gentleman in every man that is dying to be revived. Which is oddly enough the theme for the current issue.

Styled by David Bradshaw the scene unfolds with a group of young dapper gents in old-worldian get-ups of natural creams, tweeds and off-white shirts. Although styled with many Paul Smith items the shoot looks awfully similar to that of Burberry.

So refreshing. I hope you enjoy!

Paul Smith JEANS Look Book favorites

Paul Smith opens new store in London

Our favorite British designer just opened a new Marylebone High Street shoe and accessory shop today!! If you're in London go have a look.

38 Marylebone High Street
London
W1U 4QF
Tel: 0207 935 5384

In other news, Sir Paul blogged yesterday about photographing his new SS10 collection. He had this to say about it:

Thursday 1 October 2009

On Tuesday I photographed my spring 2010 show collections for Men and Women. I wanted the photographs to have a strong, optimistic feeling and so built a set with vibrant colours. I managed to shoot around 3000 images in one day, which will be seen in magazines in the January issues. This seasons winter collection was photographed on location in a country house hotel, this time I decided to shoot in a studio where I could have a more controlled environment.

GQ - Kings of Neon

Photographer Neil Kirk delivers a colourful and tasty feature on the return of Neon (for guys anyway) in the Sep 09 issue GQ South Africa. While it may be a bit behind in terms of International fashion South Africa has always been lucky in that the delay works for those items you might not be ready to let go of, just yet. Paired nicely with Paul Smith (floral jacket). Mens Fashion in South Africa is slowly but surely replacing the likes of Nike and the boardshort/haviana combo. Kudos.


Issues in stores now!
Model: Samuel Allerton for Boss NYC

Victoria Quarter Awards 2009

Well Done to Paul Smith for winning Best Men's wear collection 2009!

The leader in British design was also busy photographing singer Mika last week for French Magazine L’Express showing various designers winter clothes collection. The session took place in the Novello Theatre in Covent Garden - a beautiful old theatre which was built in 1903.

SALE!

Paul Smith joins the rest of the Waterfront stores with a 30% reduction on most mens items. I picked these beauties up at the last sale three months ago for 70% off! Today was the first time I wore them because I didn't know how the hell I'd wear them. I opted for a classic white thin striped shirt and grey jeans and I love them now! Nice snakey skin look eh?

Spec this out!

Last week I took a random look at what Spitfire had in-store. So although I am perfectly happy with my Ray-bans for now it's always fun to see what they have in the family of eccentric styles. I have been looking for a pair of Horn-rimmed reading glasses for a while now, and what I found instead was a very cool pair of round glasses. Paul Smith, Oliver Peoples and Tom Ford make some gorgeous pairs, altough expensive for something I don't need per say.





Fake-specs are fun and all but they aren't really the kind of fashion accessory you can wear all day long without feeling the effects of it. Try not to wear it all day, it can't be good for your eyes. But they are fun! Here are some other versions being used in and around this fashionable world of ours.











Some images sourced from Shot by Shooter :)

What I wore... today