The Design Museum in London plays host to a new exhibition:  Hello, My Name is Paul Smith. The exhibition showcases the international brand that the Paul Smith label has become, greeting its viewers with a visual exploration of the personal journey for this artist, photographer, designer and entrepreneur.

The exhibition is spread across a range of different rooms presenting Paul Smith’s physical and emotional development. It transports visitors through his first shop in Nottingham – a cubicle which only measured three metres squared – to his first showroom in a Parisian hotel. You visit his office emporium of eclectic findings and creations, embodying his magpie personality that has influenced his novel shops. None of these shops are the same, whether they are in Covent Garden or Fifth Avenue, New York. 

A room of psychedelic moving images and spaces exhibits the visual interiority of his artistic mind which mirrors his creative visions. The display presents far more than just a fashion brand, but the personal archive of a bold, classic, ingenious and honest fashion icon. 

Celebrated for his expressive prints, Paul Smith has perfected a classic style with consistently modern twists. Button holes of different colours, colourful silk linings or bright socks have continued to charm outgoing, but sophisticated, fashion lovers across the globe, especially those looking for extremely high quality craftsmanship. 

His ultra-bright multicoloured stripe was only meant to be used for one collection, initially. After it proved so popular, Smith preserved the design in numerous parts of his collections. Scarves, shirts, diaries and wallets are all adorned with the print. It is even printed onto his famous Mini, featured at the exhibition.

The show closes on the 9th March 2014 so if you’re in London go in and say hello, connect with Paul Smith’s bright, energetic, life-loving way of thinking, or as he said in a recent Culture Show interview, his “Savile row / Mr Bean” way of design.

Student tickets are £8.40. More information about the event can be found at www.designmuseum.org

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