Sir Paul Smith has been making witty fashion for the hip set for more than half a century. He began with a tiny, windowless shop down an alley in Nottingham. Today, there are more than 130 Paul Smith boutiques worldwide, including a new two-story flagship opening this month at 929 Madison Avenue (between 73rd and 74th Streets) in New York. Along the way, Sir Paul helped loosen up the men’s suit, dressed everyone from David Bowie to Daniel Day-Lewis, and became widely recognized for adding flashes of unexpected color to his seemingly sober designs.
After turning 80 in July, Sir Paul decided it was time to write his story, since, as he puts it, “there’s quite a lot behind me and not much in front of me.” Threads: My Life in Style, published by Pan Macmillan, is a jaunty romp from postwar England through the globalization of fashion. It offers plenty of name-dropping but also practical lessons in how a business gets built: slowly, carefully, and with integrity. Ahead of the book’s publication in the U.S., Sir Paul talks to DRESS CODE about his life’s work.