Within the United Kingdom, 1 September marks the primary day of meteorological autumn – a change in season that’s been aptly marked this yr with leaden skies and the primary downpours in months.
It makes an appropriate backdrop for the launch of the newest collaboration between Paul Smith and Barbour; the previous is thought for its eponymous founder’s irreverent riffs on the tenets of a British wardrobe, and the latter’s signature wax jackets have protected in opposition to the nation’s inclement climate since 1894.
Paul Smith and Barbour unite for his or her third collaboration
(Picture credit score: Paul Smith)
For this third chapter, the 2 British manufacturers look northwards in the direction of the Highlands of Scotland, a spot identified for its dramatic vistas and synonymy with out of doors pursuits (in addition to its personal temperamental local weather, with a number of the highest rainfall in the UK).
Certainly one of these pursuits is the annual Highland Video games, a longstanding Scottish custom which sees contributors undertake a sequence of exams of power and endurance – from the ‘caber toss’ (gamers should throw a picket log so far as doable) to ‘weight over a bar’ (its guidelines so simple as the identify suggests). The occasions additionally characteristic ceremonial components, from ceilidh dancing to massed bands of bagpipers.
(Picture credit score: Paul Smith)
The Highland Video games are the inspiration for this newest 38-piece assortment – and its accompanying marketing campaign – with Smith’s reinterpretation of two conventional Barbour tartans, the ‘unique’ and ‘genuine’ tartans, at its nexus. The materials are right here reworked with the designer’s liberated use of color: pinks, oranges and yellows are woven into the tartans and seem throughout the collections as motifs, particulars, or linings.
Elsewhere, memorable Barbour clothes are reimagined in new fabrications, just like the Beaufort Jacket, which has been crafted in merino wool with a ‘windowpane’ test or in navy corduroy. Components of play – which have outlined the earlier two collaborations – seem all through, like printed motifs of charms, keys and fishing flies; animal embroidery; or vivid flashes of color.
(Picture credit score: Paul Smith)
The accompanying marketing campaign, a ‘Highland odyssey’, mines this lighthearted temper: its two fictional protagonists, Paul and Baz, arrive on the Braemar Gathering (essentially the most well-known of the Highland Video games) two weeks early. There, they meet an eclectic forged of characters – ‘every embodying the heat, wit and enduring traditions,’ as Smith says.
The Paul Smith loves Barbour is accessible at barbour.com and paulsmith.com, in addition to chosen retailers.


