In business for over 30 years Paul Smith has established himself as the pre-eminent British fashion designer. He manages to transmit tradition and the classics with a genuine sense of humour and mischief through his collections.

He became a designer by accident when his dream of becoming a professional cyclist was halted by a serious accident. Six months in hospital followed and during this time Paul made some new friends. After leaving hospital he arranged to meet them again and by chance the meeting place was a local pub that was popular with the students from the local art college. It was then Paul knew he wanted to be a part of this colourful world of ideas and excitement.

Managing his first boutique in Nottingham and with the encouragement of his girlfriend Pauline Denyer (now wife) and a small amount of savings, he opened a tiny shop in 1970. Paul started to take evening classes for tailoring and with the help of Pauline (an RCA fashion graduate), Paul was able to create what he wanted. By 1976 Paul showed his first menswear collection in Paris under the Paul Smith label.

Today there are 13 different collections; Paul Smith Mainline for men and women, PS by Paul Smith, Paul Smith Jeans, Paul Smith London, R.Newbold (Japan only), Paul Smith Black, Paul by Paul Smith, Paul Smith Accessories, Paul Smith Shoe, Paul Smith Fragrance, Paul Smith Watches and Paul Smith furniture and ‘things’. Designed in Nottingham and London, the Paul Smith collections are primarily produced in England and Italy while the fabrics used are mainly of Italian, French and British origin.

The collections are wholesaled to 75 countries and there are 17 shops in England. Paul Smith shops are found in London, Nottingham, Paris, Milan, New York, Antwerp, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Kuwait, U.A.E. – and over 200 throughout Japan.

Paul Smith has now collaborated with Austrian based edelwiser ski. This is the first time he has used his signature multi stripe on skis. Each pair of Paul Smith's skis is produced on-demand and individualized with the owners name.

Go to the online-shop and order YOUR pair of Paul Smith Swing 162cm and optional Bindings to be delivered at your home within a week.

What inspired you to create this particular stripe pattern?

PAUL SMITH: After many years of using every combination of simple stripes, I decided to try to work on "the definitive stripe," and I came up with a stripe which had 28 different colours in it. That would have been ridiculously expensive to make, so I cut it down to 14 and decided to print it rather than have it as a woven stripe. I showed it in my next collection thinking that it would be just for one season but then when the following season I didn't have the stripe in the collection all my customers said "WHERE IS THE STRIPE?" and so I continued to use it, and it has become my "logo."