Introduction.

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HELLO, MY NAME IS PAUL SMITH, an exhibition that opened at the Design Museum in London in November 2013, will be held in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nagoya from June to October 2016. Here we report on the first installment, in Kyoto.

What kind of person is Paul?

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Born in England in 1946, Paul Smith began working for a clothing wholesaler in Nottingham at the age of 16. Later, when he befriended a student at an art school, he became familiar with architecture, design, fashion, and art. With the encouragement of his art school teacher and later life partner, Pauline Denyer, he opened a small store in a back street in Nottingham in 1970. That was Paul's start as a designer. Today, Paul's brand has grown to become a global brand with a presence in some 70 countries and territories. Let us take a look at the history of the brand.

Paul Smith The First Shop

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In 1970, a store called "Paul Smith Vetements Pour l' Homme" (Paul Smith's Menswear) was established at 6 Bayard Lane, Nottingham. It was only 3m x 3m with no windows, and Paul opened the store for only two days a week while earning a living from his other jobs. However, from this single room, Paul's first steps as a fashion designer were taken.

Inside Paul's Head

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When Paul has various ideas in his mind, such as images, images, words, or numbers, he captures them with a camera or writes them down in a notebook in order to keep them in his mind. The countless images that come into his mind at that time are expressed in the form of video installations.

Paul's Office

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The office in Covent Garden, London, is just overflowing with stuff. The only thing that is organized is a large desk for design meetings in the center of the room, and the chairs are so piled up with stuff that there is not even room to sit down. Books, papers, bicycles, and cameras are scattered about, many of them collected by Paul from his travels around the world.

The Hotel Bedroom

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A bedroom in a hotel in Paris was Paul's first showroom. His first collection consisted of six shirts, two sweaters, and two suits. This was all that was on display, spread out on the bed. Finally, at the end of the last day, he received his first order from a customer. This was the beginning of business for Paul.

The Design Studio

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Paul Smith is famous for its printed patterns, but the most popular stripe patterns are all created in this design studio. The colors of the patterns are determined by slowly winding colored threads onto cardboard, creating the stripe pattern little by little. The colors are then incorporated into clothing and accessories.

Promotions

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For Paul, who has been taking photographs since he was 11 years old, photography is a hobby and, so to speak, a visual diary for Paul. He has also photographed for seasonal advertising campaigns. Over the years, many well-known photographers have shot advertising campaigns for Paul Smith, including David Bailey, Julian Broad, and Mario Testino.

Paul's Art Wall (Paul's Art Wall)

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Paul has been collecting paintings and photographs since he was a teenager. The collection ranges from famous artists such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney, and Banksy, to gifts from friends and family, and from ordinary fans. The exhibition features approximately 500 pieces carefully selected from this collection.

Collections

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Paul's clothes are both traditional and contemporary, based on the idea of "classic with a twist. The clothes are based on the idea of "classic with a twist," such as a gray suit with a brightly colored lining, or a tie with a particular lining. The section is divided into seven themes, showcasing a range of garments from past collections, including the Spring/Summer 2016 collection.

Collaborations

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Paul has collaborated with many genres, but an early example is the (then) Rover Mini. This is the car on which one of the aforementioned striped patterns was designed. This Mini has been newly decorated for display in Japan with the striped pattern, which was introduced in the fall/winter of 2015. Various other collaborations are also on display, including cameras, motorcycles, and snowboards.

Shops

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At Paul Smith, every single store is designed by the in-house design team. When Paul opened his first store in London in 1979, it contained not only clothes, but also appliances and sundries in innovative colors. Some shops still follow this trend, displaying beautifully tailored clothing next to secondhand books, art, and collectibles. Each store has a unique approach to design that allows it to stand out from the crowd. In this section, Paul's thoughts and ideas about the stores are introduced along with the stores from around the world.

Mr. Deyan, Director of the Design Museum, talks about Paul Smith.

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After graduating from college, I decided to buy a suit and happened to walk into a store where Paul was working. But I didn't know anything about Paul at that time. Two years later, I heard a rumor that a new store was opening in London. Well, it turned out to be Paul's store, and a very tall man with long hair appeared from the back and talked to me, and that was our first encounter. The details are in the catalog, so please read it later (laughs).

The Paul Smith logo is a handwritten signature. It took me a long time to ask him if his signature was handwritten or not, but one day I gathered up my courage and asked him. One day, I gathered up my courage and asked him, and he said, "No." He told me that it was not his autograph, but that someone else had written it, but strangely enough, as time went by, his autograph began to resemble that one.

I was just 30 years old. I was working for a magazine called Blueprint at the time, and we were going to feature up-and-coming fashion designers, and one of them was Paul. Other designers included Katharine Hamnett, Margaret Howell, and Scott Crolla. At that time, Paul asked me, "Let's go to Japan together! And that's how I came to Japan for the first time. So I came to Japan for the first time. I think it was in 1986.

In fact, Paul himself is entirely self-taught when it comes to fashion and design. He did not attend design or art school. Today, it is almost impossible to become a designer without going to an art college. However, he was born after the end of World War II, when there were various kinds of rationing, for example. Many people who grew up in such an environment are very interesting. It has been more than 40 years since the brand was born. At first glance, he seems very relaxed and charming, but I think he is always concentrating on seeing and understanding various things and looking for something new.

As the instigator of the "Paul Smith Exhibition HELLO, MY NAME IS PAUL SMITH.

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From the very beginning of the project, I had decided to tour the museum around the world. I thought that by traveling around the world, the museum would be able to communicate with a wide range of people. When you are running a museum, the things you have worked on, prepared, and exhibited come to an end, and you have to dismantle them. It is the saddest moment when you realize that it is no longer there. However, I am happy that this exhibition will travel to Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagoya, and will be held in Seoul, Korea next year. I think this kind of exhibition has great potential, even in the digital age. The act of actually seeing an exhibition with one's own eyes is a socially shared experience, and I think there are moments that can never be experienced through information available on the Internet.

This is actually my first visit to the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and I could not think of a more fitting place to hold this exhibition. This venue has a lot of space. So there is plenty of room to breathe, and I think it is good to be able to face the works of art at a leisurely pace. As for the content of the exhibition, I had already decided on the colors easily from the graphic design stage. On the other hand, the title of the exhibition was the one thing that was not decided. I was fine with "PAUL SMITH, OTHER STORIES. Paul himself seemed to have the idea of "PAUL SMITH, NOT A FASHION DESIGNER," and it was hard to come up with a neat title. How about something simple then? So we decided on "HELLO, MY NAME IS PAUL SMITH. Paul still stands in the store on Saturdays, and when customers come in, he starts by introducing himself as "HELLO, MY NAME IS PAUL SMITH," so we decided on that. But the other staff members are not in the mood for it, so please go home as soon as possible! (laughs).

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