Our Mod ballet will bring the Sixties back to life

The Who's Pete Townshend and star tailor Paul Smith are teaming up for a new version of Quadrophenia. The pair tell Dylan Jones it wasn't just their generation: teens are still trying to find their way

- Dylan Jones

PETE TOWNSHEND is sitting in Paul Smith's private office in Covent Garden, telling me why he asked Britain's most successful fashion designer to create the costumes for a new ballet based on The Who's extraordinary 1973 concept album, Quadrophenia. "Right now, I could go into one of Paul's stores and buy a suit and I'd look respectable in any Mod joint," he says. "That's how good Paul is. Having Paul's clothes in this show will be fantastic. There's a mythology attached to the Paul Smith brand, and he's been able to steer it for such a long time. It's a philosophical act as well as being about fashion. His clothes were born in the Sixties and yet they've reverberated around the world ever since." Like Mod. "Like Mod."

Set in London and Brighton in 1965, Quadrophenia follows young Mod Jimmy Cooper and his search for selfworth, identity and importance. The iconic and multi-million-selling album defined a generation when it came out, and in 1979 inspired the cult classic feature film of the same name, starring Sting and Phil Daniels.

Now it's back this time as an explosive dance production - Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet-with a cast of exceptional dancers, introducing new audiences to the much-loved original.

Quadrophenia is steeped in the mythology of the Sixties - sharp suits, soul music, Vespas and parkas - but its themes of lost youth, rebellion, the search for belonging and hunger for social change are just as urgent today. Maybe more so.