The star of ‘Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet’? Paul Smith’s fits

Final evening, Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet previewed at Islington’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, the place it can run till 13 July 2025. The manufacturing is tailored from The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia, written by the band’s Pete Townshend, which impressed the cult 1979 movie.

That is removed from a standard ballet. There have been no tutus or tights – no sweeping scores by Tchaikovsky or Prokofiev. As a substitute, the efficiency featured offbeat choreography by Paul Roberts, a dynamic orchestral association by Rachel Fuller and Martin Batchelar, and costume design by Paul Smith.

Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet tells the story of Jimmy, a disillusioned mod wrestling with varied sides of his identification, set in opposition to the backdrop of the famed mods versus rockers feud – a rivalry as emotionally charged as any in Romeo and Juliet or West Facet Story.

Visually, the manufacturing is an exuberant showcase of mod type – the parka is a recurring image, discarded (spoilers forward) when a tormented Jimmy makes an attempt to take his personal life, and brought up as soon as once more when he alters his thoughts. Elsewhere, there are polos, RAF goal motifs and, after all, sharp tailoring: slim-fitting, narrow-lapelled, cigarette-silhouette fits in daring colors and patterns. Briefly, it was a stage tailored for Paul Smith.

Recognized for his crisp cuts, vibrant linings and playful detailing, the eponymous founding father of the model, now 78, started his profession within the late-Sixties as a tailor, dressing precise mods in fits not not like those seen within the manufacturing.

For Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet, Smith created era-appropriate tonic fits in a refined examine. The eagle-eyed may even discover a stone-coloured raincoat lifted straight from Paul Smith’s A/W 2024 assortment worn by one of many forged.

However this wasn’t merely a case of nostalgic styling. The costumes needed to enable for full vary of motion – not one thing that tailoring usually accommodates. The Paul Smith workforce responded with good variations like articulated sleeve gussets and specifically lower trousers. Every go well with was custom-made for its dancer, making certain that type by no means got here on the expense of efficiency.