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Paul Smith x REM Limited Edition Collection

British designer Paul Smith has always been a little bit rock’n’roll.

From his collections that hark back to iconic 1960s British fashions to celebrity fans from the worlds of music, sport and film, he’s has always been a step ahead of other designers when it comes to being just plain cool.

A lifelong fan of music, it seems only natural that Smith should team up with US rock band R.E.M. to produce a capsule collection of products to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the group’s landmark album, Automatic for the People.

Released on October 5, 1992, the album was the band’s eighth album and featured the hits Everybody Hurts” and “Nightswimming“.

Hailed as one of the great albums of the 1990s, Automatic for the People sold 18 million copies worldwide.

While it may have helped to establish R.EM. as the kings of moody rock in most people’s minds, it’s easy to forget that tracks like “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” and “Man on the Moon” were pretty upbeat, as well as being massively popular.

This being Smith, the designer and the band have worked together to create delicately woven scarves, silk pocket squares, canvas tote bags and graphic T-shirts.

Playing on Smith’s signature bold colors and photo prints, the anniversary collection makes use of the album’s artwork, famous song lyrics and promotional photos of the band taken by the famed Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn.

An exclusive run of screen-printed posters featuring album artwork have also been produced as a limited and numbered edition.

To launch the collaboration, and to mark the release of the remastered deluxe version of Automatic for the People, members of R.E.M. will visit Paul Smith stores in London, Milan and New York.

“I’ve known and been a fan of R.E.M. for a long time,” said Smith. “I’ve always particularly enjoyed Michael’s haunting vocals. The band is a very imaginative and artistic group of people, which makes them such exciting creative collaborators.”

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