StyleSpy with Katrina Szish

Paul Smith is the master of mix, known for offsetting refined Savile Row tailoring with colorful contrasting details.  He became a designer by default when his dream of becoming a professional cyclist was halted by an accident (he spent six months in the hospital).  He collects rabbits (not real ones).  He once told me during an interview at his atelier in London: "You have a very nice nose."  He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001, and got married the same day.  He's big in Japan.

The designer also has a thing for multi-colored stripes.  Here, a look from his Spring 2008 collection.

These stripes decorate his namesake shopping bags; they pop up as his "favicon" when you type his URL into your browser.  He has applied them to socks, pumps, handbags, fine china...

...Ipod cases, disposable cameras and area rugs (below).

He even customized a Mini Cooper with them.  They have become his fingerprint.

All images from Paul Smith 

What's the story behind these ubiquitous stripes?  StyleSpy went straight to the source:

StyleSpy:  When did you develop your affinity for stripes?

PAUL SMITH: When I was starting my career with very little money and no business,the only fabrics available to me were from merchants that carried stock, and the fabric for shirts was always plain white or simple classic stripes, for example navy and white, burgundy and white. I had no alternative but to use these for my shirts, but in fact this [limitation] gave me the idea about "Classic with a twist," which means simple fabrics, simple designs but always with the unexpected. A coloured buttonhole and unusual button, contrast cuffs...This gave me my signature which continues to this day.

StyleSpy:  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."

StyleSpy:  How does "the definitive stripe" reflect your design aesthetic?

PAUL SMITH: I think the stripe is happy and optimistic and I hope that reflects my own personality.

StyleSpy:  Does the pattern transcend seasonal trends?

PAUL SMITH: Sometimes it feels more correct and sometimes it's not, but it is mine and it's here to stay.