Paul Smith Designs Vinyl, Sleeve, T-Shirts for Rolling Stones’ Album

LIKE A ROLLING STONE: Paul Smith, who acquired his begin promoting t-shirts to bands performing in pubs, or at pupil unions, has returned to his outdated methods.

On Friday, he revealed a group of limited-edition t-shirts, a vinyl design, and an album cowl, to mark the discharge of Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones’ first album in practically twenty years.

A longtime fan of the band, and a buddy of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wooden, Smith had no downside developing with the 2 new designs.

One is a Rolling Stone’s tongue lined in Smith’s signature stripes sample, and the opposite is a photoprint rendering of smashed glass, a nod to the album’s title.

In London east finish slang, “Hackney diamonds” refers back to the damaged glass left after thieves smash a window. Hackney could also be a hipster haven now, nevertheless it was a tough neighborhood for a lot of the previous century.

Photoprints have been a Paul Smith hallmark for the reason that Nineteen Eighties, when the designer pioneered using them in clothes.

“We’ve at all times had an in depth relationship with the music enterprise, and I depend The Rolling Stones as one among my all-time musical heroes,” stated Smith.

“Hackney Diamonds is an outstanding album with a fearless spirit. For this launch, I needed to create one thing that stayed true to the imaginative and prescient that the band set out – with just a few refined Paul Smith twists,” he added.

The t-shirts are comprised of 100% natural cotton and have been launched on Friday, Oct. 20 to coincide with the launch of the album. A restricted variety of vinyls, signed by Smith, can even be on the market.

Smith has a protracted historical past working with musicians.

He collaborated on the re-release David Bowie’s 1969 album, and labored on an exhibition and capsule assortment with the graphic designer Tom Hingston, who created album covers for the likes of Bowie, Girl Gaga and Grace Jones.

As a younger entrepreneur, Smith would recurrently drive from his house in Nottingham to London to attend gigs.

“Then, you might see fairly vital bands in small venues like a pupil union, or above a pub. I acquired to know a variety of the fellows from my period, like Eric Clapton or Jimmy Web page from Led Zeppelin,” the designer informed WWD in an interview in 2020.

“With my character, I used to only go up and say, ‘Hiya, actually appreciated the brand new album.’ Unknown to them, a buddy from Nottingham had taught me methods to make silkscreens. So I’d purchase some Fruit of the Loom T-shirts after which silkscreen a Union Jack, and have them in my bag or pocket.

“As quickly as they’d say, ‘Oh hello, man, what do you do?’ I’d reply, “My identify is Paul Smith, I’m a younger designer. Would you want to purchase a T-shirt?!’”