Paul Smith on Melrose Exhibit, Dressing Icons Like David Bowie and Possible Cameo at “Pink Shoebox”

Paul Smith is in town. The British fashion designer has touched down in Los Angeles for a brief stay and for good reason. His Melrose Avenue boutique has mounted a celebration of Smith’s tailoring titled A Frame Around a Picture: Dressing the Greats. The activation is designed to transform the iconic shop — lovingly referred to by Smith as “a big pink shoebox” as it has become a social media phenomenon — into a gallery space of sorts, featuring ensembles worn by star clients.

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The collection on view in West Hollywood features a brown wool two-piece suit donned by Oppenheimer star (and eventual Oscar winner) Cillian Murphy to the nominees luncheon, a bespoke check ensemble worn by David Bowie for a GQ photoshoot and spread (that featured a cameo by Smith), and other items worn by Harrison Ford, Matt Smith, Gary Oldman, John Legend, Jenna Ortega, Shawn Mendes, Niall Horan and others. During the exhibition, which runs through Oct. 21, select archival pieces as sourced by Luke’s founder Luke Fracher will be available for purchase.

“I always see and interpret things laterally not literal. A Frame Around the Picture is the way I view a suit, it’s like a picture frame and the person is the work of art that sits inside,” Smith told The Hollywood Reporter over email about how he settled on the exhibition’s title.

After dressing so many big names over many decades, Smith said the pieces for the exhibition more or less presented themselves. “To be honest the exhibition narrowed itself down because so many of the lovely clothes that we’ve dressed and sold over the ages that have disappeared somewhere, so it’s been a challenge getting our hands on them,” he explained. “But there are nice memories of working with the likes of David Bowie, Gary Oldman, John Legend — gosh so many of them — all who love our clothes, and we love them.”

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Bowie was more than a client. He was one of Smith’s closest friends over many decades until the rock icon’s death on Jan. 10, 2016. Following his passing, Smith opened up to THR about what made Bowie so special. “As you know, he was someone who reinvented himself — so his stage wear and his music were very much part of a public persona. What was interesting to me, though, was his approach to his own personal style. As a designer, I’ve never really given things to people; I like people to wear my clothes because they enjoy them and not because they’ve been gifted them. And David would literally just come to the shop himself. No bodyguard, no stylist. He once came into the Fifth Avenue shop and bought every shirt in his size. It was mind-blowing. Thrilling.”

Smith no doubt has a packed schedule while he’s in Los Angeles after jetting in from Tokyo, the site of another tailoring exhibition. He revealed that he may “pop my head out” from the Melrose Avenue shop to check out the frenzy that is likely to be occurring against the pink backdrop. “The problem is I might not be able to get inside because I’m told there are several hundred people every day,” he said.

Smith made a longer cameo at a starry dinner and celebration at Chateau Marmont on Thursday evening that drew a long list of boldfaced names including Rob Lowe, John Owen Lowe, Giancarlo Esposito, Leslie Odom Jr., Jesse Tyler Ferguson, John Cho, Manny Jacinto, Sir Patrick Stewart, JD Pardo, Chace Crawford, Alex Edelman, Brandon Perea, D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Anders Keith, Chevy Wolf, Mark Mahoney, Lamorne Morris, James Morosini, Rome Flynn, Cristo Fernández and others. Below are more photos from A Frame Around a Picture: Dressing the Greats and the fashion celebration.

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