paul smith 'sent things'

paul smith ‘sent things’image © designboom

british fashion designer and stockholm furniture fair  guest of honor 2010, paul smith created a lounge, composed of 4 rooms, filled with personal sources of inspiration and impressions.

image © designboom

one room shows ‘sent things’, items sent to paul smith by a secret admirer over the past years. paul smith to designboom in an interview: ‘I don’t know whether it’s a girl or a boy, I only know this fan is from USA. for 15-20 years I received quite funny things from ‘him’, these include a surfboard, football, broom, stepladders, sledge, watering can, fishing rod, piece of wood and much, much more. only a few are shown here. they are always sent to me with the stamps and address on the object and NEVER in a box. it’s amazing that they really arrive to destination… that the post offices don’t stop them.’

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

a view into the ‘sent things’ room of paul smith’s lounge at the stockholm furniture fair 2010 image © designboom

seats and carpet designed by paul smith image © designboom

a view into the ‘sent things’ room of paul smith’s lounge at the stockholm furniture fair 2010 image © designboom

paul smith portrait © designboom

paul smith

was born in nottingham in 1946. he left school at the age of 15 with the sole ambition of becoming a racing cyclist, until his father hauled him off to work at a clothing warehouse. it wasn’t until an accident put an end to his dreams of becoming a racing cyclist that paul smith started to get more involved in his job, and it was pure coincidence that he met pupils from an art college and became interested in art and fashion.  smith began studying tailoring in the evenings, and with the help of his girlfriend (now his wife), pauline denyer, who had a fashion degree from the royal college of art, he opened his first boutique in nottingham in 1970. in 1976, he showed his first menswear collection in paris under the paul smith label. today there are 13 collections sold in seventy five countries. paul smith shops are found in london, paris, milan, new york, LA, san francisco, antwerp, singapore, hong kong, soeul, moscow, cape town and over 200 throughout japan. paul smith continues to be an integral part of the company; he is both designer and chairman.