Sir Paul Smith
- Fashion designer, Paul Smith was born on 5 July 1946 in Beeston near Nottingham.
- Paul Smith left school without any qualifications. He had hoped to be a professional cyclist but an accident, when he was knocked off his Mercian push bike in 1964, put paid to his hopes.
- In 1967 Paul Smith started mananging a clothing store. Three years later he opened his own clothes shop in Nottingham, which he operated full-time from 1974. In 1976 Paul Smith launched his own collection.
In 1979 Paul Smith opened his first London shop. In 1995 he was awarded a Queen's Award for Export and in 2000, he was knighted. Paul Smith was also named as one of the greatest Britons in 2004.
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Paul Smith has a huge presence in Japan. The first Paul Smith store opened in Tokyo in 1984, but since then there have been hundreds of Paul Smith shops open up.
- On June 2006, Paul Smith told The Observer: "I just love life. I like to be interested and interesting. I go swimming every day at 6.30am, then on for toast and Marmite at the same cafe. Walking to work I stop and talk to the road sweeper in Old Compton Street, he's a great guy. He's Polish and got married three weeks ago. We're all the same. I don't see myself as just a brand, Paul Smith is more than that."
- Paul Smith married Pauline Denyer in 2000. They had met back in 1967.