Iconic British designer brand Paul Smith made foray into Indian market by opening its first store in the UB City last week. Hosted by Sanjay Kapoor, MD, Genesis Luxury Pvt Ltd, the launch party of the world-famous brand was graced by the rich and famous of the City. The British punk and house music played by the DJs lent a casual English feel to the party even as celebrities walking in had only  praises for the brand.

Said designer Prasad Bidappa, “Paul Smith is my absolute favourite. In fact, I used to sit in his shop the whole day in London and admire his work. The classic striped shirts are my favourite and people must buy the shoes and accessories at least if not the clothes.” He also expressed his wish to buy the designer socks very soon. While dancer Vani Ganapathy claimed that she had heard a lot about Paul Smith from her brother-in-law as that’s his favourite brand. Socialite Shireen Malani remembered the time when she had picked up a pair of boots from Paul Smith in London. Other celebrities like Geetanjali Kirloskar, Manoviraj Khosla and Sumalatha Ambarish were also seen at the event.  

Said Jonathan Towle, Marketing Head, Paul Smith Worldwide, “Every shop of Paul Smith provides a unique experience to the consumer as it’s designed in a completely new way. For instance, our store in Los Angeles can be called as a pink cube which is 5,000 square feet in size.” The collection boasts of a range of suits with a unique design on the interior of them. The most interesting one being a blazer with stamps of many countries inside. “We call these ‘classic with a twist’ since we believe that there is more to the interior as opposed to the exterior,” opined Jonathan.

He also spoke about Sir Paul Smith’s fascination for India and its culture that led him to launch the store in Bangalore. While Sanjay Kapoor, exclaimed, “Bangalore is a vast market and the people of the City have a very good taste in fashion.”

The collection at present consists only of men’s wear with a trademark colourful stripes underlining most of the clothes. It also consists of trendy bags, belts, shoes, cuff links, ties, t-shirts, pants and organic jeans for the men of today.

Deepa Natarajan