Paul Smith

Leadership, Investment in People, Retail Innovation and International Business - Paul Smith represents all that's great about the Heart of the Midlands spirit.

Paul Smith - from Beeston to Royal Designer for Industry

Sir Paul Smith CBE RDI is one of Nottingham’s most famous sons and one of the world's best known fashion designers. Born 5 July 1946, his career in fashion began at aged 15.

Smith was an errand boy in a Nottingham clothing warehouse, and his designs for the showroom displays caught his boss's eye. His ambition and talent led to a position as the factory’s menswear buyer when he was just 17.

 

Sir Paul Smith recalls his life in fashion in conversation with journalist and broadcaster Stacey Dooley at GQ Heroes.

 

He fell into designing almost by accident

During a six-month stay in hospital, due to a cycling accident, Smith made new friends who, upon their recovery, introduced him to a pub which was at the time popular with art and design students. It was here that Smith decided he wanted to be part of the creative world and become a fashion designer. Smith started to take evening classes for tailoring with Gordon Valentine Tipton in Nottinghamshire who showed him how to cut cloth as well as the basics. With the help of his then girlfriend, now wife, Pauline Denyer, who was a Royal College of Art fashion graduate, and a small amount of savings, in 1974 he managed to open his first shop at 10 Byard Lane. Seven years after opening his first store, the designer took to Paris with a sizeable collection of clothes under the Paul Smith label.

Paul Smith the Eclectic Collector.  Find out how Paul’s love of art was inspired by a fortuitous cycling accident and discover how it inspires his work in fashion.

 

In Fashion: Sir Paul Smith interview.  About how he was a 'warehouse go-for' and how a skinny cut suit caught his eye.

 

Gentleman's Journal talk to the iconic designer about his inspiration, what makes him unique, and what advice he'd give to young entrepreneurs.

 

Fashion Designer Sir Paul Smith Talks Land Rover Defender.  Sir Paul Smith, the British fashion designer, revisits the unique Land Rover Defender he helped design last year and talks about how the vehicle's history influenced his design choices.

 

A Morning with Paul Smith. Britain's most successful fashion designer tells The Goddess Guide how he built his dream.

 

 

Paul Smith - creating trends in fashion and wider popular culture

Combining a love of tradition and the classics with a genuine sense of humour and mischief. The Paul Smith label is renowned for its intimate reflection of cultural influences, taking reference from music, art, modern lifestyles, sports and exotic foreign inputs.

Sir Paul Smith | Full Address and Q&A | Oxford Union

 

Paul Smith - the global phenomenon

From that single tiny shop on Byard Lane in Nottingham city centre (which is still open), Paul Smith has grown to become a global phenomenon, His company is valued at over £100 million, with shops found all over the globe, combining a love of tradition and the classics with a genuine sense of humour and mischief.  The iconic, instantly recognisable Paul Smith stripe has become one of the most cherished and chased designer patterns in modern fashion history. His collections are designed in Nottingham and London before being wholesaled to 35 countries and shops around the world (including 200 throughout Japan).

 

WHAT ELSE? | Sir Paul Smith. WHAT ELSE? is a series for Highsnobiety by writer/director Paul Black. What’s it all about? Call it the "What Else Factor," a person with something else besides the thing(s) he or she is usually known for.

2020, the Paul Smith brand reached its 50th anniversary and Smith was made a Royal Designer for Industry in 1991, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

 

 

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