LFW – Smythson x Quentin Jones: an unforgettable collaboration

As a much-anticipated collaboration between Smythson and British artist Quentin Jones, Rory O’Hanlon, design director, hosted the Smythson S/S’14 collection at the brand’s flagship store, as a part of London Fashion Week.

A series of ten unique artworks were conferred, each of which focused on an individual high profile figure, past or present. The subjects that were studied include: Hardy Amies, Sigmund Freud and Katharine Hepburn, through to contemporary influences, such as Waris Ahluwalia, Erdem, Kylie Minogue, Jonathan Saunders, Laura Bailey and Dita Von Teese.

The exhibition runs in store until 21st September 2013, alongside exclusive items from the Smythson archive. It is a truly unique exhibition, featuring, for the first time ever, a notebook from Sigmund Freud and an address book owned by Katharine Hepburn.

As well as this, the Panama Diary, which were not only the world’s first practical, portable diary, but also a beautifully crafted piece, central to the Smythson brand. Introduced in 1908 it was known as “the Panama hat of books”. Binding paper and leather into one beautifully crafted whole, the Panama Diary has since been an iconic encapsulation of the two craft skills that summarise Smythson’s ethos. It is in homage to this unassuming yet elegant diary that the brand new Panama Collection showcased today was based.

With regards to the S/S’14 collection by Smythson, the brand introduced pieces that had taken influence from the Mediterranean; the leisurely glamour and vibrant colours give us a taste of the Italian coastline. The collection brings together two different aspects from two diverse cultures – that of Italian lifestyle, and British edge – to create a very unique collation.

Marium Ul-Haq