Smythson Partners With London College of Fashion on Out of the Blue Project
LONDON — Smythson has partnered with 15 students and tutors from London College of Fashion to document their creative journey from start to finish in a project titled Out of the Blue, a nod to the brand’s signature shade.
“The first marks in a new notebook can be daunting because it can feel like you are defacing a very precious and beautifully made object. So, to begin, I open any page and just draw anything from memory, using lots of colors, media and, most importantly, lots of mess, that in turn prevents me from becoming overly precious, igniting the journey of bravely putting thought to page,” said Rob Phillips, the creative director for the School of Design and Technology at London College of Fashion.
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Smythson’s Featherweight pages saw different interpretations, from blue and white doodling, pieces of cloth inserted between the pages and label stickers with printed affirmations.
Last month, the luxury leather goods brand named longtime fashion and luxury executive Paolo Porta chief executive officer.
He reports to Stefano Giacomelli, chairman of Smythson and CEO of Tivoli Group.
Porta was most recently CEO of the British boot-maker Hunter, a job he took up in 2021 after successfully steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic and the early stages of its repositioning strategy. He initially joined in June 2020 as interim CEO.
On Porta’s watch, Hunter saw sales surge during the pandemic and afterward. He also brokered one of Hunter’s top-selling collaborations, with “Killing Eve,” the BBC America TV series.
Smythson has stores on New Bond Street and Sloane Street in London, with other units at Selfridges and Harrods.
Smythson of Bond Street was established in 1887 when Frank Smythson opened his first boutique providing stationery and “fancy articles of a high-class character.”
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