When I was 16 and got my first job, the first thing I saved up for was a Paul Smith shirt from his shop in Nottingham – a five minute walk from the café where I worked.
That shop, just off Bridlesmith Gate on Byard Lane, was the same cramped boutique Smith had opened in 1970 to launch his retail career. It was still there when I started work in 1987 – by which point the designer’s London business had spread to four locations – and it’s still there in 2011 as part of what’s now a huge global chain. (There are over 200 Paul Smith stores in Japan alone.)
If I suggested that Smith keeping his original shop open to this day was testament to a lack of pretention, or that he’d “never lost his roots”, you’d probably think that was bullshit.
Unless, that is, you’ve ever seen him interviewed.
I defy you to watch the 20 minute video below and not fall in love with the guy and his genuine, unvarnished enthusiasm for life, design, cycling and – especially – silliness. It may just set you up for the year ahead.
Personally I’m most in love with the fact he’s never lost his Nottingham accent. The idea of Sir Paul asking Karl Lagerfeld “y’alright mi duck?” will never get old.
