Paul Smith colour blocking banishes winter blues

There was no room for the winter blues at London Fashion Week on Sunday as Paul Smith embraced colour blocking for his autumn/winter collection. The British designer, who continues his expansion into Asia this year with new shops in Beijing and Shanghai, created his trademark boyfriend jackets and trousers in contrasting pinks, blues, greens and oranges. "It is very much about the mix of colour," Smith told AFP backstage after the catwalk show in the Tate Britain museum on a cold winter's evening in London. "I'm not really a very extravagant designer in terms of lots of things happening, so I've always relied on little surprises, bits of colour," he said, opening his suit jacket to reveal a bright and printed lining. "So I liked the idea of mixing the cerise with the rust, with the purple and the turquoise bag, or the Yves Klein blue." Smith let the colours do most of the talking, although they were interspersed with silk printed dresses, checked coats and blouses with subtle embellishments such as ruffles at the front, or drawn-up sleeves. "It was, I hope, just very Paul Smith," he said.