Paul Smith’s cosmic rockers shoot for the moon and beyond

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Maybe it’s because Roger Waters is restaging ‘The Wall’ album in its entirety for a tour later this year, or because the isosceles triangle design dangling from necklaces and printed on T-shirts that came down the catwalk called to mind the iconic ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album cover art, but I left Paul Smith’s Spring/Summer 2011 runway show in a distinctly Pink Floydian state of mind.

The trippy tie-die/watercolor designs scattered with geometric and planetary symbology called to mind the psychedelic cover art for Pink Floyd’s 1968 album ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,’ and the blousy shirt silhouettes with floppy bows at the neck looked like the kind of clothes Waters, David Gilmour and company wore in late 1960s photos of the band.

Like the band, trippy space hipster was only one phase, though; there were silvery/gray outerwear pieces and sport coats with a sheen that fell somewhere between sharkskin and Tin Woodsman, skinny trousers speckled with a galaxy of micro stars, blue gingham checks, slouchy pullover sweaters and cardigans, black woven pork pie hats, gold metallic shoes in a snakeskin texture and a punk-looking T-shirt.

Overall, the collection had a more rumpled and disheveled look than Smith has shown in the past, as if the boys had gotten so tanked at the previous night’s great gig in the sky that they spaced out about who had the keys to the interstellar warp drive.

But any cosmic cowboy will tell you that the best way to ease the pain of reentry to Earth’s atmosphere is to fire up the rockets and set your course for the heart of the sun all over again, and that’s exactly what Smith’s wild bunch looked as if they were bent on doing as they piled onto the stage for the designer’s predictably rowdy runway finale.

And while the music accompanying them wasn’t Pink Floyd, it was the other equally out there brain-bending British rockers who could be seen among the influences: Led Zeppelin.

-- Adam Tschorn in ParisPaul Smith Spring/Summer 2011 menswear collection photo gallery

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Photos: Looks from Paul Smith’s Spring/Summer 2011 menswear runway show Sunday during Paris Men’s Fashion Week. Credit: Peter Stigter and Jonas Gustavsson / For The Times.