Born in 1947, in Nottingham, England, Fashion Designer Paul Smith always wanted to become a professional bicycle racer. But an accident prevented him from pursuing this carrer further. In 1969, Smith met Pauline Denyer, who studied fashion design at the Royal College of Art. She became a motor for the career in the fashion business that should follow for Smith. He opened up a tiny shop for clothing in 1970. Since then he worked hard to establish himself as a unique fashion designer for classic men's wear with a twisted appeal.
Paul Smith surprised the fashion business, offering classic British cuts, but combining them in an unsual manner or using striking colors to make them stand out. Grey business suits worn with colorful flower-decorated shirts honored the tradition of British tailoring and took it a step further into young and progressive fashion. Thus garments of the business world became attractive for the fashion-oriented boheme.
Smith discovered that 15% of his clothes were bought by women, who were attracted to the fine and classic materials with a modern approach. So he introduced a women's collection in 1993, after already serving his youngest clients with a kids' collection (1990).
In 1993, Smith took over the traditional (established in 1885) but bankrupt work-wear company R.Newbold and quickly incorporated many of their famous cuts into his collection. With brief modification, he sells now the "4239 shirt" (42 inches on the back, 39 in the front) of R.Newbold under his name. This shirt was originally designed for agricultural laborers in Lincolnshire.
In 1995, the London-based Design Museum opened a restrospective of Smith's 25 years of work in the fashion business called True Brit, marking the first time this renowned museum devoted an entire exhibition to a single fashion designer.
Although he is an internationally celebrated fashion artist nowadays, Smith is known to have remained very much down to earth. He frequently visits his shops, talks to customers, and learns about his clientele's needs.
