Paul Smith Spring Summer 2019 Menswear Collection

There’s certainly an ace to being an independent designer and that’s staying true to one’s self. While big conglomerates get to stage outlandish fashion shows for the season, the designers working for them oftentimes have to pigeonhole their creativity for commercial means. Paul Smith, an independent designer for almost half a century now, embraced his own self-relevance in the fashion world during his spring 2019 menswear collection. Here, he revived many of his beloved classics and put a new and contemporary spin on them. His famous use of photograph prints, for example, were cut into oversized coats and blousons worn under tailored suits. And speaking of tailoring, his was as big and strong as ever before, but now they’re in shades of ice cream pastels or industrial navies. His checks were also given a new take, of which before were menswear mainstays, this season they were draped into dainty cocktail frocks for the women. There’s no denying Paul Smith’s impact on fashion after all these years, and it’s all because of his independence.