The Culture Show

Paul Smith -These Are a Few of My Favourite Things (2013x30)

: 20, 2013

Alan Yentob, in a bid to understand fashion designer Paul Smith, challenges him to choose the objects which sum up his life. Smith's Covent Garden office is an Aladdin's cave of objects - piles of toys, stacks of racing bikes, gifts from fans, hundreds of books. But there is a method to the strange world of Paul Smith. Growing up determined to be a racing cyclist, his dreams ended, and began, with a crash that led to him meeting his future wife Pauline Denyer, a fashion graduate. With her guidance, he developed his own quirky take on British tailoring which catapulted him to success in the 1980s and made him a cult figure in Japan. Today, he is one of the biggest names in fashion with shops in 74 countries around the world, including China and the Middle East. Smith attributes much of his success in life to his father, who taught him the importance of humour and communication. In this age of the corporate buyout, Alan Yentob asks if this is why Paul Smith is still the master of his own brand.