Paul Smith Did It All First
An unfiltered 34 minute video call with the iconic British designer ahead of his Pitti Uomo presentation.
Since the founding of his namesake business in 1970, Sir Paul Smith has done it all. Long before viral marketing, Smith launched the brand’s selfie-central, fluorescent pink wall outside its Melrose, Los Angeles store.
Before brands started to properly expanding their Brand Universes through collaborations, he already worked with dozens of brands outside his industry including Leica, Anglepoise, Mini, Rapha, Manchester United, Burton Snowboards, Evian and even The Isle of Man Post Office. He’s designed the suits for Men In Black, curated a Picasso exhibition, and launched hundreds of stores worldwide, all while remaining one of the last-standing independent big designers.
Later today, Smith will be unveiling his latest collection in Florence, Italy during the Pitti Uomo fair. In front of journalists, buyers, and friends, he’ll be taking a more personal approach far from the traditional runway model. We called him up a few days prior to ask him about it, and have an unfiltered chat about the state of fashion, Braun’s Dieter Rams, and the secret to longevity.
2:00PM, Monday June 3rd
London, United Kingdom
Zoom call from Paul’s London office
Christopher Morency and Tom Garland: Paul, you won’t remember this but we met each other about eight years ago when I just moved to London in your Mayfair shop. I remember you saying that you always write letters back to children who leave you drawings and letters in the mailbox outside of your shop. Is that still going?
Paul Smith: Yes, exactly. It must've been on a Saturday because I'm the Saturday boy in that shop. I love going there on Saturday but the wages are rubbish.
Before we get into it, I always ask people what question they hate being asked in interviews.
PS: What's always exciting is if you get questions that are a bit more like a conversation rather than a question. Over the years you meet a lot of people that are nervous because they've not really interviewed many people. So they normally say, well, how did you start? And all that. But everybody knows how I started. I fell off a bike.
Yes, I remember reading that.
PS: So all you need to do is fall off a bike and then you'll end up in fashion. It's fine.
Ha! So why don't we start by delving deeper into the Paul Smith Brand Universe you’ve created over the years. While doing research for this chat we couldn’t believe how much you’ve actually done. You did it before everyone else. Why go outside of the fashion category so early on?
PS: Well, I really don't like the word brand. I don't know why. In a way, the word brand is a brand. It just seems too grown up. But the things you've just described, which have been lovely and exciting and nerve wracking, but they've all chosen me and I've never chosen them.
I suppose the strength, if I do have a strength over the years, was learning what to say no to rather than what to say yes to. Do things which are right, not things that are just easy, because that way you can control your future by not falling into a trap of doing something which people say, ‘oh, well you can make a lot of money out of this,’ but then I don't like the job.
INTERLUDE: SIR PAUL SMITH BY THE NUMBERS
41 standalone Paul Smith shops worldwide
A 30-piece bike collection in his office alone
Over 300 cycling jerseys collected over the years
Has collaborated with 24 brand partners
54 years of running his namesake brand
And you’re still calling all the shots?