The world’s leading museum devoted to architecture and design, The Hasselt Fashion Museum, takes audiences behind the scenes of Paul Smith’s world, which is dominated by intuitive creativity, in Hello, My Name is Paul Smith. Running 30 January – 7 June, the show, which previously appeared at Design Museum, London, unveils the expert craftsmanship and individual talent of a top designer.

Audiences will come into contact with the astute designer behind a quintessentially British brand, which started out in a small Nottingham store but has become one of the most prominent fashion brands in the world. The exhibition starts from Paul Smith’s personal archives as well as designs which Smith hand-picked from his most recent collections, and peruses the various stages of design and production with the well-known hallmark of traditional craftsmanship with a contemporary twist.

This show reveals how Paul Smith works and what influences him, through projections, audio and video clips of catwalk shows and behind the scenes footage and an overview of all the unique Paul Smith shops. A replica of Smith’s first shop in Byard Lane, Nottingham, which measured 3 x 3 m, will take audiences into the very beginnings of the brand, while a replica of his personal office and a digital room full of images and sounds gives insight into the designer’s mind.

In 2013, Aesthetica covered Hello, My Name is Paul Smith and interviewed curator Donna Loveday, discussing how the how the company and the man are inextricably intertwined. Read the piece at www.aestheticamagazine.com/unrivalled-iconography.

Hello, My Name is Paul Smith, 30 January – 7 June 2015, Hasselt Fashion Museum, 11 Gasthuisstraat, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium.

Credits
1. Image courtesy of Paul Smith.