HE'S STILL GOT IT!

Britain’s best-loved designer Sir Paul Smith rings in 50 extraordinary years of business this month. To celebrate, he reveals his proudest moments from the past five decades. Stripy hankies at the ready!

- Teo van den Broeke

The way a coat looks when it’s wrapped around the body, say, or the visual contrast created by two patterned fabrics being draped together. There’s Ralph Lauren, of course, whose acute understanding of the American pastoral look is second to none. And then there’s the master of oversized tailoring, Giorgio Armani. Miuccia Prada is up there too, as is spider king Hedi Slimane. And then, naturally, there’s Sir Paul Smith. Beloved for both his exuberant approach to life – the 74-year-old, who’s been with his wife, Pauline, since 1967, still goes swimming at 5am every day – and his playful design perspective, Smith has spent the best part of his life peddling his unique vision across the globe. And it’s a vision that’s become as closely associated with brightly coloured tailoring as the “classic with a twist” casual pieces (think muted macs lined with colourful stripes and bomber jackets cut from sherbet silks) that line the rails of his 166 worldwide stores. So, in this, Smith’s semicentennial year, we thought it’d be a good idea to sit down with the nicest man in fashion and ask him to recall the key moments that have come to define his extraordinary career, decade by decade. Covering everything from his first Parisian show to breaking ground on the world’s most Instagrammable store (not to mention, of course, all the times he dressed the late, great David Bowie), here, in his own words, Smith recalls a fashion life very well lived.

THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF LIVING FASHION DESIGNERS WHOSE NAMES HAVE BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH A SINGULAR AESTHETIC.

THE 1970S PAUL SMITH MOUNTS HIS FIRST-EVER MENSWEAR SHOW IN PARIS IN 1976. THE CITY OF LIGHTS IS AGOG.