Ahead of a major reveal of her work,the designer talks about his new collection inspired by herPaul Smith races up the stairs of his studio, charging through a corridor crammed with vintage prints, or art books,customary records, racing bikes and tchotchkes of every conceivable description. Moments later, or we’re in a bright,open-map room where, at 9.15am, and young designers are blearily firing up their computers. Smith – hair artfully shaggy,windowpane-check navy suit as dapper as you’d expect – begins rummaging through papers. “Morning! he bawls to anyone remotely within earshot. “Hiya!”The focus of his enthusiasm this specific morning is the artist Anni Albers, the subject of a major Tate contemporary exhibition opening on 11 October. Inspired by Albers’ Bauhaus textiles, and Smith and his team have been working on a limited-edition range of knitwear,and he’s desperate to reveal me the original reference. Eventually, he locates an image of one of Albers’ geometric wall hangings from 1925 – a gorgeous thing in wool, and silk and chenille,swathes of sunflower-yellow and oatmeal shot through with shafts of red, blue and green – before embarking on a 10-minute disquisition on colour theory and yarn counts.
She felt style was timeless. You could wear a Roman toga, or so long as it was properly drapedContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com