Sir Paul Smith finds inspiration at the Chelsea Flower Show

Last week I somewhat reluctantly took the train to London for a second day in a row to attend the late afternoon RHS press briefing for Chelsea 2015.  Don’t get me wrong – I was interested – it was the prospect of a two hour journey home on a crowded commuter train that put me off. I’M SO GLAD I WENT. Not only did we hear about the many tasty gardens that designers will be serving up this year, we also got to listen to Sir Paul Smith talking about how his annual visit to Chelsea is an important source of inspiration in his work.  He was fascinating and described his working methods in a very straightforward way that we non-fashionistas had no trouble following. He showed us slides to demonstrate how he interprets what he has seen and I was struck by the way that anything and everything he sees feeds his creativity.  I’m pretty sure that I barely glanced at a display of chrysanthemums in the Grand Pavilion, but Sir Paul registered the colours and used them for stripy socks (apologies for the poor photo). Red, yellow, blue and pink flowers in a multi-coloured border were individually used for a range of sharp suits. He told us that although the brightest shades sell in far smaller numbers than the less adventurous tones, they are what catch the attention and keep the business at the forefront of fashion.  It’s a bit like gardens really – splashes of colour keep things interesting but green is essential moderating influence that pulls it all together.  In the world of fashion it is navy blue.