Lunch with Sir Paul
It’s not every lunchtime that you get Sir Paul Smith as your water
waiter but today was different. Some of Platform and Tony D (honorary
Platformer) had been invited to have lunch with Paul after meeting him at the
Design Museum late last year. (Big thank you Will Fowler for the introduction!)
We arrived at PS HQ just off of Kingsway to be greeted by the man
himself.
He showed us around his freshly tidied office that was frankly jaw
dropping with an amazing collection of stimulus. His office is packed full of
books, CDs, paintings, post he has been sent from fans around the world and all
sorts of objects from his travels. The highlight object for me was a Christmas
nativity made from peanuts by a 13 year old fan from The Netherlands, who
regularly sends Paul things. We were all deeply jealous of the stuff that
surrounded us on all sides. We sat down to a lovely lunch freshly prepared by
Paul – apparently he was up baking all night! (Not)
After lunch we were given a tour of the building. We got to see
the designers at work, see the stimulus for the coming collections, visit the
Department of Silliness and also we got to see that world famous striped mini
in the flesh.
Paul is an incredibly smart and lovely chap and very easy to talk
to. The 2 hours flew by and before we knew it we were all stood out on the
pavement wondering how we could all get jobs at PS. But that’s enough from me I’ll
leave it to everyone else to share their highlights of the visit.
Darren:
What did I do today? Just had lunch with Sir Paul Smith…that’s
all. This was the first lunch I’ve ever had with an official knight, and it was
pretty darn good. My first impression of him… he’s one wacky character and
someone who’d I’d like to have lunch with. Which I then sat down and did. He’s
a big hoarder who collects and saves everything, and amazingly he knows where
everything is. I think everyone there was genuinely inspired by Sir Paul. What
I found most inspiring was his attitude towards everything that is rarely seen
in adults. You know that look in a kid’s eyes where every little thing is just
so awesome? That’s Paul Smith, and the whimsical curiosity comes through in the
playfulness of his office and designs.
Katie:
To
live life like Paul Smith, you have to love life like him. Not just finding
inspiration, but finding fun in everything makes day to day life exciting, and
when your 60 something and running round showing Platform your office with
delight, you know it works.
Yuki:
I
was really inspired by his closeness. He is the big man in the world but I’m
left feeling like I’m talking with my granddad. He is gentle and optimistic,
and talks to us like family. When we walk through his studio, I shortly
understand that everybody loves him and I saw everybody smile at him. The
atmosphere is calm. It is quite different from typical fashion designers in my
mind. Paul Smith is a global brand but I felt the air surrounding Sir Paul
Smith is at home. I physically understood why he calls himself a shopkeeper.
Sam:
The
3 things I was most inspired by when I met Sir Paul Smith…
Curiosity is the secret to keeping fresh and passionate.
Communication is the secret to a happy and productive workforce
Seeing things in a lateral way gets you to the most unique creative ideas.
The 3 things I most wanted to do as a consequence of meeting Sir Paul…
Write letters like Gio Ponti
Start a department of silliness at Platform
Collect random things which make me smile for no reason
Nicole:
The
thing that I loved the most is the way Paul finds inspiration. His office full
of knick-knacks & stacks of books on the floor… I’ve always considered
myself a Magpie (hence one of my parts of the Platform Logo), but I realize now
that Paul is really the epitome of the term. A little nest (or office) with all
the bits of inspiration woven in all around him so he can make amazing work. I
love the way he can visit a flower show, and suddenly he has a set of patterned
chairs or sees the Union Jack made of stamps and then suddenly has a textile
for the inside of a jacket. I think we could all learn in that sense – to look
for inspiration everywhere and push ourselves to translate it in new ways
outside its original context.
Tony
D:
What
inspired me most was Paul’s never-ending curiosity and continuing enthusiasm
Big
Thank you Sir Paul for a fabulous lunch.