PAUL SMITH
TALKING DESIGN
WITH 'TRUE BRIT'

PS: Well, unfortunately for me, a lot of the time - because I'm the major shareholder in the business - unfortunately, I have to spend a lot of time involved in the business side, which is not something I enjoy as much as the design side. Hopefully, slowly, I will get back more to being more involved in the design side. Well, I mean, of course, I am totally involved in the design side because I've only have six assistants, and I make a huge collection.

Air: Six assistants? That's pretty small, isn't it?

PS: It's a tiny amount. I mean, I do work very hard, I've always worked very hard. But I used to be able to spend a lot more time on the design, but now I just come up with all the inspiration, all the ideas.

Air: "True Brit" has been praised by the critics and gone on to show around the world, including recently Japan. Given you're enormous success here did you change the show in any way for the Japanese audience?

PS: First of all, one of the things had to do with space. We've been more fortunate enough to get bigger spaces in Japan. And also obviously, like anything, you learn from the first ones, so we made it, hopefully, more visual, easier to understand what every section is about, with more captions. We just added some more visual things like more clothes. The interesting thing is that the average amount of time people spend in an exhibition is maybe 20 to 40 minutes, and with (True Brit) they're staying two hours because there is so much to look at.

Air: In "True Brit" there was an exhibit of your office, which is a dutiful recreation of your actual office in London. It was filled with so many things - toys, magazines, books. It was so full of clutter and diversity. It was itself "inspiring." Tell us more about your working environment.

PS: My office is awesome. It's so strange, when the exhibition came to Tokyo, I did some of the interviews in the my office in the [office] exhibit, and it was a really strange feeling because it was like I was "there" in my office in London, and I hadn't changed anything. They literally arrived at my office one day and just took everything, and when I came to Tokyo I found a letter I had been looking for in the office exhibit. I said "Oh, I've been looking for this!" They just literally took everything.

Air: The museum folks just showed up with some boxes, photographed the office as it was in London, and packed everything away and sent it to Japan?

PS: Yeah, yeah. And they just left it the way it was that day.

Air: You've talked a lot about "inspiration" in your work and how important that is in terms of finding ideas in everyday things around us, in our homes, our daily lives, our environment. Is there any inspiration you've drawn from your many visits to Japan over the years?

PS: Yeah, of course. Well, I think that's one of the keys to our success here is that we actually like Japan, like Japanese people, like the culture, like the food. I don't worry about the jet lag, you know, I'm a very positive person, so I can just pick up on the sport of it. On earlier trips, when I had more time to travel around, then I saw quite a lot of Japan, the original architecture, but I think it's the energy I like, for me, it's like a dream come true. Once you prove that you have good ideas, then Japanese people really have the ability to turn the ideas into reality, whereas in a lot of other countries that's not so easy.

Air: From my experience, I've found that when it comes to executing an idea, the Japanese are flawless, really carrying something out until it's perfect or just as they envisioned to be. The quality standard is quite high here.

PS: Yeah, exactly. That's what's fantastic. Pauline, my lady, always said that. It's the one country where you really appreciate it, and it's great, lovely.

Air: Despite the recession in Asia, and especially Japan, Paul Smith is actually still trending up, you've continued to grow your business here.

PS: That's right. I think, firstly, well, being a Brit, you know, we've been through a lot of recession. I mean, this is probably my fifth, you know. The thing I've learned from recession is that you keep really positive, very strong, very optimistic. You don't compromise on price or quality. In fact, the opposite, just keep things really special and make people feel that if they are spending their money that it's wisely spent with you because what you get is really special. And that's hopefully the reason why we're doing well.

Air: Are there any young Japanese designers whose style you are particularly fond of these days?

PS: Unfortunately, at this second I can't think of the name, but there are so many young ones just coming through right now. Who was the one yesterday in Nowhere (askingÅ@Kumi)? With the zips (zippers)?

Kumi: "Under Cover."

PS: Under Cover, that's it. They're like the new school coming through, which is very interesting. And there was a journalist that told me yesterday that a lot of the journalists have been talking about this new group coming through, and he said that he thinks a lot of them took their inspiration from Paul Smith. Because, through Kumi, we gave lectures at Mogakuen and a Bunka school and several times we talked and there was a like spirit coming through, which is very positive. And if I have any part of that - if I do - then that's fantastic. If - if it's true.

Air: If there was one thing you wanted people to know about you and what your clothes and style are about what would that be, I mean, is there a Paul Smith "message"?

PS: Well, I suppose it's that you've got to relax into life and you've got to realize that "you can do it, too." That anything is possible.

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