Paul Smith Brings His Brits Abroad

PARIS, France — The guys and gals in Sir Paul Smith's world are cool cats – not quite fashion plates, but low-key arbiters of style with places to go and people to see. It's why the fashion pieces he conjures up for his runway shows, populated with stylish occasion-wear with a British sensibility, are more like the icing on the cake of his business.

Today’s smorgasbord channeled the spirit of ‘Brits abroad’ in a most festive way, as his roomy suits and cap-sleeve tea dresses got a dose of extra oomph via checkerboard zip knits, punchy lilac or fuchsia blazers, and a recurring collage of holiday photo prints taken by Paul himself. Their hazy mix of sandy beaches, deck chairs and palm trees could have been Malibu or Patmos, or is it Positano?

Thanks to super-light wools and crisp, almost crunchy suiting fabrics, even the more oversized volumes appeared light as air, their boxy jackets and roomy pants reminiscent of zoot suits worn with cherry red derbies. The overarching mood of rockabilly via 1980s redux felt timely and authentic — it’s clearly territory Smith knows first-hand.