He may be busy preparing his women's autumn/winter 2009 fashion show in two weeks' time at London Fashion Week, however Paul Smith still finds time to devote to worthy causes. In support of the launch of the new War Child album next Monday, Sir Paul has designed a t-shirt to raise money for the charity, which supports children affected by war in Africa and the Middle East.
The album, called Heroes - The Ultimate Covers Album, features 15 artists, who have each been asked to cover a song of their choosing. These include Lily Allen, singing The Clash's Straight To Hell; Hot Chip's take on Joy Division's Transmission, and Duffy belting out Paul McCartney's Live And Let Die.
The "gun-flower" design on the t-shirt, which costs £50 and will be available to buy from 16 February, was inspired by the album's cover, which features work by artist John Squire. "I am very honoured to be involved in this worthy project," says Smith, adding, "I have designed a t-shirt which has more of a street/jeans feeling which I feel fits in with this project - I hope people like it."
The Paul Smith Jeans War Child t-shirt is available to buy from Paul Smith Jeans shops and at paulsmith.co.uk
Buy the War Child Heroes album at warchild.org.uk/heroes
Pictures: Paul Smith t-shirt, left, and Lily Allen, right
