LFW: Debut Smythson collection from Luc Goidadin

Smythson’s creative director Luc Goidadin showcased his first collection for the heritage brand during London Fashion Week, introducing new shapes and finishes to the brand’s leather goods.

Editors and buyers meandering through the Portico Rooms of Somerset House, where each room explored the idea of an ‘emporium’, with the concept of the “bespoke decadence of yesteryear” at the heart of the fantasy-fuelled presentation that celebrated Frank Smythson’s “eccentricity, ingenuity and obsessive creativity”.

The collection, which takes structural and graphic inspiration from singular historical pieces and the properties of paper itself, sat within a surreal, whimsical imagining of a British stately home and included a trompe-l’oeil installation that appeared to be submerged in water, while opulent furnishings floated in the garden pond, boats were rigged with silk sails, and an imaginary menagerie of Smythson paper birds wandered through the presentation.

The celebration Frank Smythson was a playful nod to the legacy of his world of leather goods, that spans across accessories, homewares, and soft furnishings, as well as stationery, and saw Goidadin introduce new shapes and finishes included the new accordion-shaped compartments of the Concertina series and the rounded folds of the Pillow bag, soft shapes abound in a tonal palette of botanical and mineral shades from mahogany, mustard and chestnut to petrol, sage, and dusty pink.

These sat alongside oversized Ciappa totes and compact top handle styles alike, with the Pillow shape becoming a two-tone crossbody satchel and a series of zipped pouches in the season’s mix of smooth saddlery leathers, crinkled patent, and a smooth calfskin.

Luc Goidadin makes an impression with whimsical debut presentation for Smythson

New feminine shapes also map the phases of the lunar cycle, as the Moon collection unveils a flat-based half-moon bowling bag and the quarter-moon crossbody bucket bag with asymmetric, elongated buckles, both showcasing Smythson’s signature Panama cross-hatched calfskin in a new, exaggerated scale.

Bridging men’s and women’s is the Currency collection, which the brand has evolved under Goidadin’s direction into a diverse range of Multi-Zip options, scaling up from our miniature wallets to new folio shapes and rotating crossbody cases. This includes the Smythson Travel classic joining new 24 and 48-hour weekender bags and a clip-down rucksack in cotton linen Kilim jacquards, whilst large grain leather briefcases in warm autumnal tones are updated alongside the soft suede poet’s satchel.

Other pieces in the collection included topstitched backgammon cases to folding watch rolls, leather picture frames and Scottish cashmere scarves, silk foulards, bound diaries, and hand-painted jewellery boxes.

Images: courtesy of Smythson