Before Paul Smith became one of UK’s renowned fashion designers, he was an avid cyclist whose dreams of going professional were thwarted by a serious accident. There’s a silver lining to the accident: he went on to carve a name for himself in fashion.
But Smith has never forgotten his love for the sport, and a proof of that undying love is his recently-released book, Paul Smith’s Cycling Scrapbook. The 265-page book, in collaboration with publishing house Thames & Hudson, is a celebration of Smith’s love for the sport, and features an extensive collection of cycling advertisements, trivia, photographs, and publications from the 50s to the 60s.
An entire chapter of the book focuses on Smith’s personal collection of vintage cycling jerseys which he mostly picked up in Italy. The jersey’s simple yet striking aesthetics served as an inspiration for his own designs over the years. Definitely an interesting book to pore over if you’re a cycling fanatic… and it goes down well with the design-obsessed too. Get yourself a copy here.
