Brilliant British designer Sir Paul Smith recently celebrated an important milestone in his colorful career: the 10th anniversary of his incredible flagship store in London's Notting Hill, Westbourne House. The perfect realization of a long term dream of Sir Paul's, the shop is designed to feel like someone's tastefully, quirkily lavish London home, and features a unique range of men's and women's clothes and accessories, housewares and knickknacks alongside a cllection of jewellery, books, art and antiques. The architecturally-significant establishment is also the center of his exclusive bespoke tailoring operation. Smith says he still gets a thrill every time he walks in the door. To commemorate the anniversary, Smith and friends like shoe maestro Manolo Blahnik have created of limited edition products, available exclusively at Westbourne House, including watercolors, hand-painted plates, jewelry and a retro radio.
Smith, whose known for his signature multicolored stripes, opened his first clothing shop in 1970 and showed his first menswear collection under the Paul Smith label in 1976. Today Westbourne House is one of 14 Paul Smith shops in England; there are also outlets in Paris, Milan, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and others, as well as dozens in Japan, where Sir Paul is something of a cult figure. Today he has 12 different collections including Paul Smith, Paul Smith Women, Paul Smith Jeans, Paul Smith London, Paul Smith Bespoke, Paul Smith Shoes, Paul Smith Fragrance and Paul Smith Spectacles. The company's annual revenue as of 2006 exceeded $600 million.
Smith, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001, has long been a favorite of well-dressed gentlemen including your humble Classicist columnist. Daniel Day-Lewis, our choice for the best dressed man at this year's Academy Awards, wore a bespoke Paul Smith dinner jacket with contrasting piping when he accepted an Oscar for There Will Be Blood. In 2002 Smith published a brilliant book called You Can Find Inspiration in Everything. Original copies are hard to come by and go for hundreds of dollars. This fall however, Violette Editions is releasing a paperback version which we highly recommend for fans of Smith's signature style. The book includes everything from his shop windows and advertising campaigns to the photographs and souvenirs that inspired his brilliant collections.
