Clash's Paul Simonon dips into fashion

Picture by Derrick Santini

CLASH legend Paul Simonon is to design three limited edition fashion pieces.

The bassist will design a leather jacket, a t-shirt and a neckerchief for Sailor Jerry's The Flash Collection.

Sailor Jerry is an American brand and spiced rum inspired by the father of the old-school tattoo, Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins. It was founded with the intent of keeping his legacy and values of craftsmanship, independence and originality alive.

Simonon formed The Clash along with Mick Jones and Joe Strummer in 1976 and was immortalised on the seminal London Calling album sleeve smashing his bass into the stage.

After The Clash disbanded in 1983, talented artist Simonon went to New York to paint and collaborated with Damien Hurst, as well as mounting solo shows including Bond St’s Thomas Williams Fine Art Gallery in 2008.

Musically, he continued playing and was most recently noted for his collaboration with Blur's Damon Albarn and others on The Good, The Bad & The Queen. He has also been touring with Albarn's Gorillaz along with former Clash bandmate Jones.

His contribution to The Flash Collection will be out in September this year in a handful of selected stores around the world and at www.sailorjerryclothing.com

Simonon said: "I've always admired Norman Collins' art. He was a real original and his designs were the template for many other tattooists. It's the first time I've done a collaboration and combining art and clothes design is right up my street."

You can also find out more about the project by watching the video below.