fw 2016 Paul Smith
Talking to Paul Smith is always a pleasure. Here' a designer who loves meeting his audience, whether it is a young client in Tokyo, a hot shot buyer from New York or a blogger who just started out. Normally, I go to his showroom in Le Marais, to see the collection on my own or in the company of my Belgian colleagues. This time, I was told that Paul Smith lui-même would be present and that he would love to take me around the collection. Entering his building (he owns it) in the Rue des Archives I immediately caught his glance. Sir Paul Smith, surrounded by a bunch of people, listening, laughing, having a good moment. There were models around to show some outfits and to make clear what his story for next season was all about.
'In fact, a lot of people are doing now what I used to do when I started out', said Paul. 'I did embellishments a long time ago, when I hardly had the money for a good fabric. I felt like doing this again, so there are some small embellishments, on coats, on a dress. And have you seen my travel collection?' While he says this, he takes a coat from the hangar, bundles it into a small package and then opens it up again. No wrinkles at all. 'See', he adds.
'Have a look at the video of the show', Paul says, and then he starts talking about the building in London (where he did his show) and how much time it took to have a new (yellow!) carpet installed. Again he calls for a model, and has her whirling around, showing off the multi-coloured pleats in her skirt. 'Now isn't that wonderful?' he adds.
Paul has a habit of touching people on the arm, on the shoulder, in the neck, and it feels as if we all know him, which of course is relative. Yet, he was in Hasselt for his exhibition 'Hello Paul', and of course he remembers the excessive amount of visitors ('I broke all records') and the good times he had there. 'The exhibition is in Canada now, and will travel to Japan, to three places later on this year and the next. I do hope it will be as successful there as it was in London and Hasselt.' I bet it will.
