ThE WaNtEd FaShIoNs....

The following biography contains information on Fashion Designer Paul Smith.

BIOGRAPHY
|| The Past & Present || Products || Economics || Address ||

"I give classics just a little kick."

The Past and the Present
Born in 1947, in Nottingham, England, Fashion Designer Paul Smith always wanted to become a professional bicycle racer. But an accident prevented him from pursuing this carrer further. In 1969, Smith met Pauline Denyer, who studied fashion design at the Royal College of Art. She became a motor for the career in the fashion business that should follow for Smith. He opened up a tiny shop for clothing in 1970. Since then he worked hard to establish himself as a unique fashion designer for classic men's wear with a twisted appeal.

Paul Smith surprised the fashion business, offering classic British cuts, but combining them in an unsual manner or using striking colors to make them stand out. Grey business suits worn with colorful flower-decorated shirts honored the tradition of British tailoring and took it a step further into young and progressive fashion. Thus garments of the business world became attractive for the fashion-oriented boheme.

Smith discovered that 15% of his clothes were bought by women, who were attracted to the fine and classic materials with a modern approach. So he introduced a women's collection in 1993, after already serving his youngest clients with a kids' collection (1990).

In 1993, Smith took over the traditional (established in 1885) but bankrupt work-wear company R.Newbold and quickly incorporated many of their famous cuts into his collection. With brief modification, he sells now the "4239 shirt" (42 inches on the back, 39 in the front) of R.Newbold under his name. This shirt was originally designed for agricultural laborers in Lincolnshire.

In 1995, the London-based Design Museum opened a restrospective of Smith's 25 years of work in the fashion business called True Brit, marking the first time this renowned museum devoted an entire exhibition to a single fashion designer.

Although he is an internationally celebrated fashion artist nowadays, Smith is known to have remained very much down to earth. He frequently visits his shops, talks to customers, and learns about his clientele's needs.
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Selected Products

* Paul Smith men's collection
* Paul Smith women's collection
* PS (diffusion)
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Selected Awards

* Queen's Award for Industry
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Economic Data
Ownership
The Paul Smith Ltd. is owned by Paul Smith himself, Pauline Denyer and two other members of the board. Paul Smith functions as CEO and Chief Designer of the company and is still involved in most decision processes concerning his business.

Performance
Worldwide retail and apparel sales of the company were at $208 million in 1995 opposed to $133 million in 1994 and $83 milllion in 1993. This marks an increase of 50 to 60 per cent each year. Royalties from license agreements make up around 75% of total revenues. Two thirds of the sales are made by exports. The rather young women's line achieves $17 million in Europe and Japan. The casual clothing line PS is sold worth of $16 million in Europe. Only 2% of total sales are made in North America.

Distribution
In 1995, the total number of company owned stores was around 100. Eight of them can be found in Great Britain, one in New York, and one in Paris. In Asia, where Smith also has franchise stores, he boasts two stores in Singapore, three in Hong Kong, and about 162 in Japan alone. Therefore he is considered to be the leading European designer in Japan.

Production/ Licensing
Most of the Paul Smith clothes are manufactured near Nottingham in Great Britain. In Japan, his clothes are produced by the Japanese apparel company C.Itoh in license.
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Address
Headquarters
Paul Smith Ltd.
Riverside Blg., Riverside Way
Nottingham, NG2 1DP, Great Britain
Tel.: (+0115) 986 8877
FAX.: (+0115) 986 2649
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Selected Boutiques
London Boutiques
* 41-44 Floral Street
London WC2E 9DG, Great Britain
Tel.: (+0171) 379 7133
* 23 Avery Row
London W1X 9HB, Great Britain
Tel.: (+0171) 493 1287

Nottingham Boutique
10 Byard Lane
Nottingham, NG1 2GJ, Great Britain
Tel.: (+0115) 950 6612 New York Boutique
108 5th Avenue
New York, N.Y.10011-6904, U.S.A.
Tel.: (+212) 627-9770
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Editorial provided by Jost Krebs

RUNWAY SHOWS
Paul Smith M W

COMPANY PROFILE
Paul Smith

JOB TITLES
Designer

DISCLAIMER
Information in this report relies on information provided by individual designers, public relations agencies and other public sources. Infomat can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information or for loss or damage caused by any use thereof.