¶ … Paul Smith: Color, fabric, silhouette Color: Muted tones

Paul Smith offers consumers an image of clean, relaxed Americana. Although he is a British designer, he could be described in his approach as a more youthful Ralph Lauren with a slight 'edge.' Smith's upcoming spring and summer season's clothing for sale has a blended palate of clean, yet faded colors and features styles such as long swim trunks and sweeping capes. The colors are both timeless and complementary -- yet also suggest another era. The colors look as if they are viewed through the sepia hue of an old camera.

Smith's upcoming fall collection features grays, muted tans, and cool, understated shades of blue. The desire not to be ostentatiously fashionable and engage in conspicuous consumption, even amongst trend-setters, is manifested in Smith's color tones. Even on his website, there...

The colors give the pictures a slightly nostalgic quality. The jeans collection is faded. Even the Paul Smith junior collection, which showcases 'cute' children posing beside a bright car in the promotional web photographs do not use primary colors -- blues, light floral prints, and greens dominate.
Fabric: Classics

Paul Smith's return to the classics in his collection is also manifested in his choices of fabrics. Different textures and weights of wool dominate all of his collections. Wool is a timeless, natural fabric, and meshes nicely with the drive to get 'back to basics' today. A lack of synthetics and a drive for authenticity are both manifest. This is reflected in the emphasis on wool and other classic fabrics. Fabrics like wool and cotton cling lightly…