Paul Smith does classic with a twist in Hasselt
The Paul Smith Empire had modest beginnings. Paul Smith first worked at a clothing warehouse in Nottingham, but it was his then girlfriend - today his wife, Pauline, who first encouraged him to open a shop of his own and enter the fashion business. Fashion Museum director Kenneth Ramaekers: "Paul Smith does classic with a twist. He wanted to familiarise young men with good clothes, but also ensure they could stand out from the crowd. In this way he created a classical style that ensured people could wear his clothes to work, but added a little colour to make sure the wearer would feel he was wearing something special."
The Hasselt exhibition recreates Paul's first shop: "Paul Smith Vêtements Pour l'Homme". It opened in Byard Lane in Nottingham in 1970. Here you could buy clothes that until then were only available in London. The store measured 3 metres by 3 metres, modest beginnings for a clothes empire that today exports to seventy countries. The exhibition recreates Paul Smith's first shop, but also his design studio (below) and his office.
Paul Smith has a flagship store in Antwerp in Belgium. At the exhibition a tribute is paid to some of the several hundred stores worldwide. Fashion Museum director Kenneth Ramaekers: "Each store is different and really that's against all the rules of marketing. But they are designed to fit in with the local area. It's Paul Smith, who decides on the location of each store. He also tries to create a special atmosphere. The shops are different, but at the same time each store is recognisable from the presence of art, photos and humour."
Humour is a key trait of the Paul Smith Empire. The designer is aware that in today's world there is too much of everything. He likes to follow his wife's maxim: keep it simple, but at the same time he knows that in order to stand out from the crowd, you need to be different, often in a subtle way, and that's something that can be done with humour. Take this shop window at the Hasselt exhibition: a pink flamingo is depicted on the T-shirt, but to attract our attention the flamingo is made to look down at a handful of langoustines in the hand of the mannequin. "It's absurd humour" says Kenneth Ramaekers, the director of the Fashion Museum in Hasselt, "but it works. This will grab your attention and stop even a passer-by who is in a mad rush and who knows it may be 'Sale!'".
Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith runs at the Fashion Museum in Hasselt until 7 June.