BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Sir Paul Smith is a keen cyclist. BikeBiz even saw him in the hospitality village at the Dublin stage of the Tour de France (he was with TV fashion commentator Jeff Banks, another keen cyclist, a good roadie in his day).
Smith is also one of the leading names in the world of fashion. His suits, ties and shirts are de rigeur for the man who wants to wear the right, non-Saville Row labels (mind you, PM Tony Blair wears Paul Smith suits which probably isn’t that helpful for the brand’s image!)
Gary Fisher bought a rather exotic Paul Smith suit a few back and wore it at a UK bike show. Fisher and Smith later met, and hit it off. There was talk of a joint project but nothing came of it. Now, the project is back on.
As well as the signature 29-inch wheeled bike shown here, the Paul Smith/Gary Fisher pro-celebrity team will wear Paul Smith designed racing clobber.
The bikes to be used in the Red Bull event are one-offs. The paint jobs alone cost $3200 dollars apiece. The stripes on the bikes are similar to those used in a makeover Sir Paul Smith did on a one-off Mini motorcar, now housed in a motor museum in Tokyo. This was based on the Paul Smith clothing collection of spring/summer 1997.
