Paul Smith
by Timothy Hagy | photographed by Yannis Vlamos

At least there's Paul Smith. If the London shows have suffered from a outflow of talent in recent years, Smith has been faithful in keeping his women's collections on home turf. Tuesday's show of cool pinstripes and gray flannel, burst into a symphony of melon-colored draped silk dresses and canary-yellow jacket. But the harmony was in the contemporary elegance of the pieces, oversized cardigans and carefully cut black dresses, cascades of pearls streaming down and elbow-length velvet gloves creeping up the arms. Paul Smith can convey that theme without pretense, which is the secret to being both understated and British.