Why Paul Smith is a 'uniquely British' brand

DW: How important is the London Fashion Week for you even today?

Paul Smith: We've been asked many times to either show in Milan or Paris - but we've stayed loyal to London because I think it's still a very exciting Fashion Week and there's a lot of creativity. A lot of young designers are showing. It's good if people like myself - a more established designer - can stay here, we can attract some of the present buyers. They want to come to our shows, and then they're in town looking at some of the young talent, which is great. So hopefully, we help out.

What designs can we expect to see this season compared to past seasons?

My clothes for women don't really change drastically because there's always a link to my clothes for men. They are not masculine, but the shapes are often very simple. Color and print has been more important this year. In the past season, there were a lot of blacks and navies, but that was a winter season. When you do a summer season, there are more fluid fabrics, there's more print, more embroidery.

Where do you get your inspiration for the print design?

Inspiration can come really from absolutely anything. I'm sort of famous for saying "you can find the inspiration in anything and if you can't, please look again." It could be an exhibition of an art, a movie or an old book. We get a lot of influence from art and we have a big archive of old text arts as well, which is really inspirational.

What advice would you give young fashion designers starting out today?

The point with anybody starting out today is that there is a very, very overcrowded market. There is an oversupply of designers and products. Look at all the art or fashion schools around the world, and you'll see it. The fashion course at the school in my hometown Nottingham used to have about 90 people - now it' 2,500. There's an oversupply of designers, so if you want to be a designer you have got to understand not to be negative. Nobody needs another designer, so you have to have a point of view, you have to be very aware of the market, be very creative, to really know your stuff. You need to specialize - then you have a chance.

Who wears your designs? Who is the typical Paul Smith customer?

I think the profile of Paul Smith is quite broad. My products go from very low to very high cost. We are blessed in that we have a lot of creative customers: actors, architects and lots of bike riders, too, because I love to cycle. But basically, someone who is quite confident, who is not looking for what I call "attention-seeking clothes", because the clothes are quite simple. They don't need anything that is too highly designed, they are pleased with simplicity.