722. - Sir Paul Smith

All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week, Jason. Does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that. We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on YouTube. How long gone? Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. We're coming off our show at Webster Hall last night, our after party at The Standard. I have miraculously already time traveled to Los Angeles. Jason, you're holding it down in the Big Apple for me. Yeah, man. I'm at the hotel right now overlooking my city, spending all day being deathly hungover and editing a podcast. I don't really care anymore. I'm not hungry. I don't care about food anymore. I'm post-food. I don't even care anymore. You're like, bro, I don't care anymore. I don't care about eating. I did a gummer of honey last night. Thank God for my friends over at Happier Grocer because I got all these waters and tonics and milks. and tamari almonds and cashews. After I've done a couple grams of Coke, there's nothing I need more to reset my whole vibe than some milk. spelled with a y that there's nothing that's gonna set me straight you i'm serious you do a line you and then you finish it with a honey gummer and it really adds a nice it brings out some of the uh some of like the kind of bittersweet notes that some cocaines have nowadays

I know that the drug dealers have gotten very poetic in their presentations with the decks that they hired PlayLab to do, but when they start describing the top notes of cocaine, that's when I might have to take a second look. This one's a little funkier. You'll get chanterels at the nose. I do mean nose. Oh, God. Okay, so yeah, we had our show at Webster all last night. Thank you to our friend and consummate professional, Kat Cohen, for joining us. She was great, as always. Yeah, she really knows how to work the stage. John Early-esque, and then Andy Haynes as well. for opening things up we you know so nice we had to do it twice bring him back always a legend there's nothing better than sitting backstage at webster hall with andy gossiping about comedians that he knows and we don't you know what i mean yeah like it's really he's really got all the tea in a way that i want to sip yeah and it's it's so low stakes for me it's just perfect it's the best 30 minutes of my of my week i yeah i will i will say in a world of be an andy instead come to the party with information that other people will want to enjoy and they will say hey i like that person i want to hang out with them instead of can i have a drink ticket Let me get a drink ticket. That's what I'm going to put on your gravestone. Here lies them jeans. Don't ask him for a drink ticket. Yeah, and when I was touring with the Cobra Snake all over the world, he... Okay, don't flex too hard on him. Okay, relax. I had to flex on these hoes. Yeah, Queens in the building, hooty hoo. When me and the Cobra Snake were flying coach to China, it was TJ. When me and the Cobra, it was me, Cobra Snake, you know what I'm saying? Maino was there. Lox was there. Shout out to Jada. And then, yeah, when Mark and I would fly coach to Norway so I could open up for the Rattatat after party and, you know, whatever. Anyway, but he, him and I spent so much time in the club and he knew that I was, I didn't like being asked.

can i have a drink ticket and it was like a thing that he would joke around about because every week he asked me for drink tickets because that's right you know he was a friend so he he would call them tokens instead just to kind of make it a little more fun and uh you know less abrasive and i always love so even to this day he will Sneak up behind me and ask if I have an extra drink token for him so he can have his one Heineken. Shout out to the goat. The show is great. I'm glad it's over. It's the best part about doing stuff. The after party was great. It was packed. All the homies came through. Thanks to Parker and Josh and Curtis and whoever else DJed. Besides you, of course. Thanks to me. Of course, thanks to you. Of course, thanks to you. I think we had an awesome show. I'm proud of ourselves for slaying. The hardest part of the whole operation happens now, which I'm putting off, which is replying to all the... people that tag you on instagram stories with a hey thank you so much for coming that's why you that's why you just can't respond to that you just got to double tap and keep it moving but i don't i'm not going to tell you how to do your job jason you're you're much like cat cohen you're a consummate professional yeah i know how to reply to a dm you know you know how to fucking you know how to fucking reply um so you you went to We went home after the after party and then you slept for three hours and got on an airplane to fly to Los Angeles. Because it was, yes, I had to leave the standard, go to the meatpacking, Che Margot, the new hotspot, which we will go next time we're in New York because it's really, it really feels like LA in like 2007 and you can, it's like super ornate. You could, they were letting us smoke inside. It was really something, but it was Sarah Moonves' 40th birthday. Yeah, Sue Chan was talking about it. Yeah, it was Sarah Moonves' 40th birthday, so Alex and I had to go over there after the standard. Damn, don't reveal her age. This ain't Taylor Lorenz. No, 40th birthday is like a thing people celebrate. It's a known quantity. Okay, okay. I just didn't know if that was public info. I'm going to get a text from her being like, what the fuck? It would have been fine if you just said birthday party. I don't know. Try that out.

You could have stopped with birthday, but yeah, it was a heavy room over there with Jeff Hendrickson pouring Alex just a glass of straight Patron, Lorde, Jimmy Stack, Derek Blasberg, Mark Gaducci. The list goes on. I don't have time. But we stayed for like 40 minutes. and then went home, went to bed at 2 a.m., woke up at 5 a.m., and headed to JFK, baby. And now I'm in L.A. Good Lord, man. I don't feel that. I just had coffee because I slept most of the flight, thank God. I feel okay. It's going to hit me later, I think. This was a mistake, but it was the best way to do it, so I still feel like it was the... like what i yeah it's one of those you're you're you're gonna really thank yourself when you wake up in la tomorrow exactly monday morning oof money making melrose money making melrose if you're selling let's get this gluten-free bread bro yeah let's get this hero bread um Yeah, well, it was just we have a limited time to be here for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I feel like it was just better to maximize and rough it a little bit on Sunday. What are you going to do for Thanksgiving? Are you going to do a little Erewhon, pay them $400, and they send over the thingy? We got plans? We did do that. We did that two years ago. No, the best thing that's ever happened to me, we're going to the Sunset Tower. Oh. 6.30 p.m. reservation at the Sunset Tower on Thanksgiving. Thanks to Al Wilmot for hooking it up. That's a nice classy thing. That's what happens. That's where families who hate each other have Thanksgiving. Exactly. Exactly. It's like Bradley Cooper and his baby mama at one table and just not looking at each other. Tim, honestly, this is a concept that I never considered before. Oh, really? Yeah. I guess I, yeah. It kind of feels like I've never celebrated a Christmas, a Thanksgiving. at a restaurant in my entire life. And it's not even something I consider to be an option, but I feel like it's amazing because it puts a time on the hang. When it's at someone's house, you've got to go over there three hours before, watch a little football, eat some dip, play with the kid.

And it's a seven-hour, all-day thing. This is like, I can only hang out with my family for 90 minutes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're good. At a third location. No, it really is. It's like when you're cheating. You're like, not at the house, not at the house. Got to go to the Hampton Inn by the airport like Joe Budden. I would say that my real dream, and I don't know if this will ever be achievable, is to spend Christmas in a hotel. That's always been, you know, wake up at... you know a nice maybe maybe in london maybe like a claridge's christmas oh i mean that would just be that's my dream i don't think i'll ever be allowed to do that um in my life so this is as close as i'm gonna get and i there's a small chance it could happen but it won't be for any good reasons you know if alex you know like if alex gets popped for insider trading like martha and she she gotta do six months at rikers then maybe you'll do carlisle christmas who knows carlisle christmas feels really you know i actually funny i got invited jason i'm sorry that you can't come to a uh andrews family brunch at the carlisle in in in new york which i am i i couldn't i've never replied to a text faster uh what is the occasion I think his family is all in New York for whatever reason, maybe for a family wedding or something. It's Steel Week in the Big Apple. Well, I see his sister at Equinox pretty often. She's on a similar schedule. It's Steel Week at the Carlisle. But yeah, so that's the plan. The weather is obviously better than New York, but it's not super sunny. So we're here. We're holding it down. I'm just happy to be back. And I had a question. You left a Whole Foods bag of clothes in the backseat of my car. Am I supposed to do something with those or is that an accident? Yeah, you're supposed to go donate those to... you know goodwill or something okay okay i'll take care of it can i look through them just to see if there's anything i want or do you think it's no you're not going to want anything and also you know let's be real you could just throw it away who gives a shit right that's that's no i mean that's what i planned to do i was gonna play i was gonna play nice uh that's that was my that was my plan all along i want you to throw it away please and i want you to film it 0.5 yeah no problem i can always go 0.5 mode for you you know what happened we got we got back to the house and i was sitting here setting up my equipment

And a car drove by. Bumping that Kendrick. Bumping that Kendrick. Funnily enough, they were bumping that Waxahachie extremely loud through all windows open. And I was like, I know this. And I was like, is this guy blasting Waxahachie? And he was. This is clearly, he knew that you were going to be here. And this is the equivalent of the peacock opening up all the feathers. It's a mating signal. He's trying to find you, bend you over a brick wall. Who knows? He found me. We should talk about Kendrick quickly. Another mediocre, uninteresting Kendrick Lamar album came out, and you guys are freaking out about it. Jason, you listen to it. It's not for you either, and you're extremely West Coast. I gave the entire album a 45 second. listen through I did a skim yeah I'll go back and listen to it again just to see if the first time didn't take for any I wasn't on the right headspace or something but I think the like I've said before like Eminem makes is the best rapper alive that nobody wants to listen to. And it's not exactly this for Kendrick because obviously a lot of people want to listen to him. But it's not dissimilar. I personally do not have an application in my life where I will ever need to listen to his music. Honestly, I'm never waiting in the Chick-fil-A drive-thru long enough to put on Kendrick Lamar. It's just deeply uncool for some reason to me also. I just feel like it's not cool at all. And also Jack Antonoff produced this album. Almost all of it. I mean, that part is loco. That part, it's like finding out the tooth fairy isn't real when you hear that Jack Antonoff is producing. It's because he, I guess Kendrick did most of this at Electric Lady where, you know, Jack keeps a board. So I think they just link up. I don't know. I mean, it's just not for me. And I don't really.

understand i i really don't understand i really i listen to it with an open mind and open ears and i'm just like this is uncool and he does all these stupid little voices like he's a disney character and i don't understand why he has to do that but i guess that's just a stylistic choice yeah he's been listening to a lot of faith no more lately and i think some of that is coming through with like the way he sort of modulates his voice and does kind of character play Yeah, I mean, he's got the Carlos Santana-style guitars, which I feel like maybe it is due for a comeback, that whole thing. So I'm proud of him for digging deep for that. You think that's going to come? There's a trend report, because I was actually talking to Carolyn about that literally last night. I think it was the Wyclef in Santana. Yeah, what an awful song. But, yeah, classic. But, you know, the world was a better place when dumb songs like that existed. It was sort of just like everything's going to be okay kind of times. Everything's going to be okay. And now we got Kendrick going, squabble up and doing a, hi, it's me. Hi. It's me. No, I'm the rapper. Don't worry. He's got plenty of SZA features for you. Okay, we do have a guest today. Our friend Sir Paul Smith joins us on How Long Gone. The Paul Smith. Truly one of the greats. Just a fun guy to talk to, and I just feel like he's lived a lot of life in a way that most people have not. Full disclosure, we recorded this earlier, so I already edited the episode, and listening to it, it's like listening to just the most archetypal... just the jolliest British granddad who's got a cute little dad joke for everything and is dressed perfectly and is just a funny, silly guy who loves life. And he's infectious. I will say. Yeah, he's infectious. It's really, I mean, we, we talked to him. We, we did a thing with, with Paul Smith at the Soho house in LA like a month ago or a month and a half ago or whatever. Um, so we knew what we were getting into, but I just feel like it's, it's, I don't know. He's just great. And I feel like there's not a lot of people like him. And he's also,

been extremely successful in a way that that makes it all even more interesting yeah he's he's truly a role model for a lot of yeah or he should be more of a role model for a lot of people who are creative because he really he's doing very well with his business of course but i think the way he his quality of life is about as high as he lives and the coolest part about him is his wife's name is pauline and i forgot to ask him about how cool that is yeah yeah you fucked up on that but that is they i'm glad they found each other um all right we are uh in la december 6 at the l ray Robbie Hoffman is going to join us and probably some more special guests. Please get your tickets. If Webster Hall is any indication, it will be a motion picture. We will be back this week with podcasts. Don't worry, we're not taking Thanksgiving off. We will be delivering that hot turkey to you on Friday as God intended. Jason, enjoy New York. Enjoy a nice Sunday evening in the Big Apple. Yeah, I'm going to go have dinner at a restaurant called The Otter, which I'm sure you've been called many a time. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. What the hell? What kind of gay restaurant are you going to? It's a restaurant in that hotel, The Manor, M-A-N-N-E-R. Oh, yes, yes. But the chef is this guy, Alex Stupak, who's like a... A dude who's into like extreme black metal and is like a Michelin star Mexican cook. Oh, is it Mexican food? But he's also white. Oh, so it's Mexican food? I mean, his restaurants are Mexican. I think this one is a little bit more, it's looking seafood, new American vibe. Looks bomb. Sounds right up my street. All right. I'm eating some clams, but yeah, have fun in LA and I'm going to go upstate. I'm just going to keep riding your wave, riding your coattails. I'm up. I just keep biting you, taking chomps out of yours. I'll be assisting tomorrow night off a bean. What's mine is yours, Jason. Don't ever think of it any other way. All right, yeah, thank you. Thank you to everyone who came last night to Webstraw. Thank you to Cat Cohen again for joining us. Thank you for The Standard, for hosting us, and we'll talk to you guys next week. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Squarespace.

Obviously, Jason, you and I spend a lot of time on the World Wide Web, so do our peers, our listeners, our friends, our colleagues, maybe even your parents if they're freaky. And if you're doing anything in the world, writing, taking pictures. I do topless boxing. You need a website. Exactly, a website that works, that does what it's supposed to do, that allows you to be creative but also business-minded. Jason, there's one place to go for that, Squarespace. Yeah, Chris, I'm over here. I'm modifying calculators and putting Claude inside of them so you could cheat at school. And I just want a place where I could, you know, have everything all in one place. I can have the SEO tools so those future graduates can find me. And, you know, I'm able to accept, quote, unquote, donations for my services that might be gray area. You know what I mean? And then email campaigns. Hey, I got a new 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. Show your investor all of your cool analytics of what's going on. They're going to want to get in early. And we can use Blueprint AI to make your website look as professional as your competition, if not more. So head to squarespace.com slash howlong for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code howlong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Oh, this is huge for me personally. This episode of How I'm Gone is brought to you by TaskRabbit. Oh, baby, let me tell you something. This is not a joke. I use TaskRabbit a lot because I can't do anything. You need some art hung? TaskRabbit. You need a fucking... Something put together? A cabinet? Got to reach that cheese grater on the top shelf? TaskRabbit. Anything you need, TaskRabbit can take care of it for you. And, I mean, it... How it works, TaskRabbit connects you with skilled taskers in your area. They can help you move. They can assemble furniture, repairs, yard work, mounting, and more. You can search for a tasker based on cost, skill set, availability, and past client reviews so you know exactly who's showing up and can have confidence that they know what they're doing because taskers have assembled over 3.4 million pieces of furniture, completed 700,000 home repairs.

handled 1.5 million moves, and the numbers are just going up, Jason. Yeah, throw a little money at the problem. It's not so expensive, and that job that you really don't want to do is something that another person out in the world is very good at doing and would gladly do it in exchange for a little bit of money. So when life happens, your to-do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first task at TaskRabbit.com or grab the TaskRabbit app. using promo code howlong. Taskers book up faster, especially for same-day tasks. So book trusted home help today. That is $15 off your first task using promo code howlong with the TaskRabbit app or at TaskRabbit.com. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by a new podcast from The Guardian stateside with Kai and Carter. This is covering a lot of our bases, Jason. It's trying to slow down. The news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's happening in the world. And I know you particularly have quite a lot of questions. A lot of questions. But how often? Because we do this podcast three times a week and that's a sweet spot. How many times do they do? Three times a week. And I have a feeling just based on the platform and these talking points that they're maybe going to be covering different stuff than we do. That's just a guess. The Guardian is not some billionaire owned. platform. They're not afraid to say what they want to say, brother. Yeah, Rupert ain't sniffing around in what journalists Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are up to over there at Stateside. But yeah, listen wherever you get your podcast. You can watch it on YouTube. It's three times a week. And who couldn't use more news? Especially when it's not from here, let's say. Give it a listen. Jason's got to keep his camera off because he's in a hotel with bad Wi-Fi, so it's just me and you locking in. And hello, both of you. I'll be a voice in the shadows, a ghost. You're just having fun over there, I tell you what. So it's late afternoon, what, it's like 5 o'clock?

Yeah, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Okay, 2 o'clock. 2 o'clock, I'm sorry. So this is, have you had lunch or are you still? Yes, yeah. Okay, what did you have? A cheese sandwich. Very, very nice it was. English cheese. It was jolly nice, actually. Okay, okay. Hold on. Like a grilled cheese or just cheese and bread? He said a jolly nice cheese sandwich, Chris. I don't know what you understand about that. Yeah, and that was jolly nice. So was this sandwich simply bread and cheese? Was there a spot of mustard? No, no, no. It was just because the cheese is such a high quality and the bread was really special. So I didn't need any more. It was lovely. Very nice. And a couple of English tea. Of course. Like when you go to a nice sushi restaurant and they say no soy sauce. That's what they were doing with the sandwich. No mustard, no mayonnaise. Soy sauce is absolutely taboo. with good sushi. I agree. It's like putting ketchup on a steak. Ketchup. Excuse me. I can hear some American people here. Okay, would you prefer a HP sauce? Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. They suddenly panicked. Okay, so you're anti... Your staff didn't know that you were doing a beautiful bit right there. Exactly. So you're anti-ketchup even if you're stateside? No, I do like... Sorry, there's a tiger in the room. Hang on. Sorry, he's gone now. He's gone. There's a close one. I heard him roar. Yeah, I know. It's terrible, this room. I mean, I think he's gone, so we're okay. Anyway... Ketchup. Well, I'll catch up with you later. Do not do that. Do not do that. You want to dip a French fry in ketchup. Come on now. Yes, of course. Absolutely. Absolutely. Tomato sauce. But I don't really have French fries very often. Well, yeah. What's your diet like? Do you eat whatever or do you keep it pretty tight? I'm pretty tight these days because I'm extremely old. And so therefore, when you get older, your body relaxes. Yeah, relaxes is a really good way to put it.

You mean the parts of your body begin to relax on your bones? Yes, they enjoy traveling to different parts. They like to travel south for the winter. Yeah, and it's like you're wearing a scatter cushion under your shirt. You know, which is obviously not a great look for a boutique owner like me. That's true. That's true. Based on the clothes that you make and wear, you kind of got to keep it tight to flatter the suit. So, you know, I told you, I told you before, I think, you know, I swim in the morning at five o'clock and then I get here to my room at six o'clock and then, you know, I. I take care of myself, but not in an obsessive way, you know. I cycle still. That's good. Yeah, I saw a video of you cycling through Claridge's. That's right, yes. They were a little alarmed by that, yes. I thought it was a nice part of the whole presentation, but I wondered if that required kind of special clearance. Yeah, they wanted me to stand against the wall and pout my lips and look into the camera. And I said, but I have my bicycle outside. And for anybody who doesn't know Claridge's Hotel in London, it's not really. Apparently, I'm the only person ever to have cycled. inside clarages that doesn't totally surprise me that doesn't totally shock me so you're saying most hotels are very cycle friendly but clarages specifically it's usually frowned upon to ride a bicycle inside of yeah apart from luckily with myself you know unless you're a vip oh yeah a very important peddler well done okay so you rode through but but i didn't know about this tradition which is bad of me as an anglophile and a lover of claridge's but they have someone come in and decorate the big christmas tree and like the lobby for the holidays correct yeah every year there's always been a guest uh a designer for three and you know we

Lovely, lovely people have done it over the years. Karl Argerfeld has done one. And, you know, the lovely man from Limevan did one. And, you know, and then this year I got asked to do it and I was really excited. It was fabulous. And we had the big party last night and nine, nine people came. No, eight. Sorry, eight people came to the launch. So that was really good. Now, what is designing a Christmas tree? Are you a Christmas guy? Like, do you love the holidays? Are you in the spirit? Well, the first thing to help you with, because often when people get asked to design anything, I don't know whether you agree with this, but the word design is quite a burden on your shoulders because you think you have to design something. I have to create art from skin from thin air. Yeah. Well, you have to. Yeah. In many cases, people, you know, try too hard, do things that are inappropriate. And so what I decided to do was just, you know, do a very traditional Christmas tree and then rely very much on my passion for recycling and upcycling. and reusable so we made 120 handmade bird boxes and covered the tree the real tree uh 20 foot high tree with bird boxes and each bird box was different and that's very much about individuality so you know anti mass production doing things with your hands with craft and then i've got these absolutely barking mad whimsical toys, well, animals, not toys, that are made out of scraps of wood that had been thrown away in a carpentry workshop. And from the carpentry workshop, we made all these imaginary animals, and they were wonderful. Okay, so in America, a bird box is a film, and in London, a bird box is a small... It's a small box that a bird lives in. A small box that a bird lives in. A bird hotel. A bird hotel. A bird hotel.

Okay. It's got a sloping roof, a little hole at the front, and then a perch, you know, a little place that the bird arrives on when it flies in. And so we had perches made out of spoons, chess pieces, dominoes, railway trains. So it was very quirky and very nice. And what I was trying to just promote is that... You know, often in Christmas in many countries, you go back to see your family, go walk in the countryside. You do walk in the park, take the dog for a walk. So just that's why I was trying to just say it's Christmas. Why don't we not have, you know, 84 umbrellas with the brand written on them? But why don't we have, you know. uh something called a tree with nothing nothing to do with paul smith written on it yeah that's a crazy that's a crazy idea and i'm glad that you took that route and uh yeah so it was very good and then um yeah there was my mom my uncle that said it was nine people yeah it was good so so your whole extended family showed up what did you what did you have to drink what were you guys serving because we went to a party last night here in new york and jason resisted the cosmopolitan that he was offered. So I wondered if you guys had a festive drink as well. We had a variety of drinks, but the main one, of course, was champagne, which most people seem to like. And it was Claridge's, so it was a really beautiful, special champagne. No, on a serious note, it was great, like over 200 people, Matt Smith, you know, the actor, and who else? Martin Freeman, you know. Matt Smith was in your... campaign correct yes that's right and he came last night and he has a mohican now because he's in a movie and so i you know i said sorry no mohicans in here who are you i i have to say i've never heard the the mohawk called a mohican but it gives it a new gravitas that i wasn't expecting yeah yeah because i'm british my dear boy for sure really it really works okay so we had champagne you know because

Claridge's, to me, has one of the best kind of table snacks in the bar. That's a great offering, and that's something I'm very passionate about myself. Because what happens is that on Monday, the Christmas tree is always launched on the 20th of November. So overnight on Monday and Tuesday, overnight, you prepare the tree. So I was there at four o'clock in the morning because the rest were over from midnight until four. And then I joined at four. And then you do as much as you can on Monday night. Then you cover the tree up in beautiful, simple black fabric. So it turns into a Christo artwork overnight. Yes. And then everybody just goes about their normal business. And then overnight on the Tuesday. You've finished it off. And then at 7.30 in the morning, you have a breakfast. And that's where the snacks came in. The almond croissant. Oh, my God. I stole 97. I put them in my bag. And I brought them back for the team here and pretended I'd bought them for them as a gift. They were in a Claridge's box. You didn't pretend that you made them. You just pretend that you bought them. That's right. Yeah, because I wanted to show what a lovely, caring boss I was. Of course. So you've captured the spirit of Christmas by shoplifting local pastries. That's right. That's it. Unfortunately, one of them had bloody Claridge's written on it. That is a little bit of a giveaway. That is a little bit of a giveaway. But, you know, it's not the perfect crime. I said it was the name of the shop. It was Clorages, I said. I said, no, no, no, you've got it wrong. It's Clorages. It's a new bakery, Clorages. Yes, around the corner. Clorages patisserie. Anyway, that was that. And then what else have I done today? I've been in my – I've been spring.

26-ing. Working on a collection for 2026. You're thinking ahead like the fashion business forces you to. Yeah, that's what we have to do. I was in Cairo in my head. Have you been before? To Cairo, yes. I saw the amazing Ginza. pyramid and went inside it which was amazing i gotta be honest i gotta be honest with you paul i i wasn't super impressed with the pyramids i was more into the sphinx pause yeah what do you think of that i don't i just i don't know what it was they just felt i mean when you think about the construction of the pyramids of course it's it's amazing because that that that's because aliens did it yeah it is pretty well the aliens did do it yeah the aliens did do it that was you know that was pre-black and dreck a drill that was they had to do this by hand which is which is it's like your bird boxes it's like your bird boxes But the blocks, do you see the size of the blocks? As big as a double-decker bus, and those guys had no technology. They just had a couple sticks. But I've heard, when you said you went inside the pyramid, I've heard people talk about how the smell of the inside of it is kind of a unique, special smell. Do you remember the atmosphere in there? Stuffy. Stuffy. Airless. Stuffy. And when I went, which is... Somebody should crack a window in here. When I went, it was, yeah, in 1846, I went. And I was only three at the time. A little less musty. A little less musty then, just based on time alone. It was a rope ladder. Okay. You know, it was a rope. It was a rope walkway. Like Indiana Jones. Yeah, it was pretty scary stuff. I mean, and very claustrophobic. And when you get there. You know, there was no McDonald's. I mean, I was so upset. I mean, I've come all this way. By the time you got in, the Starbucks was closed. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know you wanted your egg bites, but I know that was disappointing. I know that was really disappointing. There's no Cairo burger. No, there's no Cairo burger. Yeah, I imagine the fresh air inside the pyramids is not flowing freely. No, no. And also there was, you know.

There were people on this swinging walkway that were of different sizes and speeds. So it didn't flow. We didn't walk. So some of the bigger fellows were balancing out some of the children. It was like when you're on a private plane and they make all the bigger people spread out so you're not leaning to one side. I get it. Well, I had a question about. the pyramids as well what do you think uh between the pyramids and the paul smith store on melrose with the pink wall which structure has had more photos taken in front of it by now oh definitely the pink wall without question yeah fuck the pyramids pink wall forever yeah yeah yeah exactly that Pincus Wallace. That's Latin for pink wall. Our house in LA is right by the store, so I drive by it multiple times a day when I'm in LA. And I have to say, it is a constant flow, and you guys have it pretty under control. I have to say I'm impressed by what you've been able to keep it under your thumb, I guess. To keep it a civilized selfie wall. Yeah, I mean, when we designed it, I designed it around the table I'm sitting at. here in London, in my building in London. And the, you know, I just thought you needed to build something that just stood out in those long straight roads you have in Los Angeles, you know, where everybody drives. And so I just built a big, big shoebox in bright pink. But little did I know that it was going to be suddenly become the most instant, you know, building in. In California, it's just mind-blowing. I mean, amazing. Yeah. The variety of things or people that have been photographed, you know, we've had dance troops there. We've had ballet dancers. We've had people move furniture in and photograph the furniture in front. We had a lady came with a cow. She turned up with a cow to be photographed, you know, because she thought it would be.

Heffer so nice. God damn it. Behave, Austin. I've seen a couple of cows take photos in front of that wall, too. Sorry, go ahead, Chris. Taking the selfie in front of the wall, it is a great store design, though. I think it does stand out in a really nice way, and I wouldn't have. Like, you're right. Those buildings, the roads are kind of long. and the buildings are all kind of the same size. So something to stand out was a stroke of genius. When David Hockney first went to Los Angeles in his early 20s, you know, he said, shall I do the David Hockney accent or do you want just regular? No, no, I would love Hockney. Go ahead. Because he's from the north of England. When I first went to Los Angeles, I... i i knew a friend on santa monica boulevard But what I didn't know was Santa Monica Boulevard was 20 miles long. And I was at number one Santa Monica Boulevard. And my friend was at 20,000. So, you know, when you're a Brit, you don't realize these roads are so long, you know. So I thought you've got to build a big sore thumb, you know, that stands out. And that's what happened. That's a great way to describe something as a big sore thumb. I feel like that's a nice way to put it. same way when you're in London and you're like, I'm just going to have lunch at the River Cafe. And little do you know, you've got to take a helicopter to get there. You know what I mean? River Cafe, you're talking about 120 pound cab fare. And then you need to remortgage the house for the meal, which is wonderful, fantastic. But like all good restaurants, it's costly. So by the time you come out, it certainly costs you quite a lot of money. All these big cities are...

so huge now you know i was in mexico city uh i go to tokyo a lot and you know just takes you so long to get anywhere now you know you you have to really get organized now when you go to cities because you think oh i'll go there there and there i was in mexico city i said oh there there and there and and he said no you're not he said we'll go there and we'll go there and that's it because that's already one day gone and he was he was right Have you been to Mexico City? Yeah, of course. It's fine. I quite like it. Chris, not so much. All those Volkswagen cars, the Beatles, you know, because they used to make them there, didn't they? They made a million. Are you opening? Do you have a store there or do you just go for inspiration? No, we sell to a store there. But last time I was there, I said to the driver, I said, you know, so many Volkswagen Beatles around it. It's amazing. He said, well, you know, we used to make them here. We made a million here. And he said, do you know what we call them? I said, well, we call them Volkswagen Beetles. He said, no, we call them belly buttons. That's a lot cuter. He said, belly buttons. I said, belly buttons. He said, yeah, because everybody has one. Wow. So that was the driver of the car. That's actually a good name. I like that. It's catchier. It's not a gross little bug. So why on earth they call it V-Clot? I mean, wouldn't it be better? V-W belly button. I mean, it's got a ring about it. It does have a ring about it. So you enjoyed your time. You were seeing the store. You were doing a store visit and just checking out the city. Yeah, that's right. I went to look at the work of Louis Barragan. Oh, you went to the house? Yeah, yeah. Beautiful. Really beautiful. Well, I had a question. How does the Mexican spicy... Does food affect your white palate? You can't do it. No, cannot. No, at all. We didn't eat for four days. I just took an energy bar and that was it. You're like, I'm not risking this. It's not worth it. No, no. I mean, I'd have flames coming out my ears. It's just so hot. Okay, so your palate swings a little bit on the less adventurous side as it pertains to...

Spicy foods. Yogurts and creams, mostly. Yes. I mean, I love spicy food. I love spicy food. But as my mom used to say, it doesn't love me. All right. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Quince. Jason, the temps are warming up. It's getting hot out there. Summer always changes how I get dressed. I need pieces that feel lighter, more breathable. And they're just easy, but, you know, still put together. I don't want to look like a slob. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. You know, they focus on high-quality essentials that feel and look amazing. Breathable linen and soft organic cottons. Well-made basics, but without the luxury markups. That rare balance where everything feels elevated. but still effortless. Yeah, Chris, linen season is here. I wore a linen blazer to dinner a few nights ago in the warm California sun. But, you know, you got that Italy trip coming up this summer and quality European linen pants and shirts. Upgrade that look starting at just $34. You know, if you get a nice linen suit, a little t-shirt underneath it, some chill shoes, you're looking good, but you're staying cool. The inside of your special areas are nice and dry as you turn up with your besties. So elevate that summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com slash how long for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns, even on a nice holiday now available in Canada. That is Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash how long. That'll get you free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince punto com slash how long. Hi Talk House Network listeners, it's your old friend Nels Klein from Wilco here. Wilco is touring this summer and we'd love to see you somewhere on the road. We're playing shows this June and July in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Chautauqua, New York, Lafayette, New York, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Vienna, Virginia, Forest Hills, New York, Portland, Maine, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Memphis, Tennessee, La Grange, Georgia, Charleston.

South Carolina, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Columbus, Ohio. Plus, there are even more dates, some with Willie Nelson that I didn't even mention here. So please go to wilkoworld.net to see the full list of dates. We'll see you on the road this summer. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications, and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Well, Paul, when we were speaking of being global, a global traveling citizen, you know, at your age in life, you travel, I would say, 10 times more than the average business traveler in their 30s. And it's something that we're both very impressed by. And when we spoke with you last month in Los Angeles, you mentioned having just returned from Japan. Yeah. And I was sort of blown away by how big. the Paul Smith presence is in Japan compared to other countries in the world. Like in America, how many stores do you have? We have three plus couple of outlet stores. Okay. How many stores do you have in Japan? 240. Apparently, you know, that's more than America. Yeah, I know. I'm not great at math, but I did put that together pretty quickly. America has a lot of people in it compared to Japan as well. So, you know, even more staggering. So maybe we've got a lot of scope, maybe some good scope there. Yeah, yeah. What do you think? I would say that the Japanese people overall, pound for pound, are more stylish people. Yeah, and everyone in Japan, all 120 million of them have a porcelain shirt, hopefully. It's kind of the national uniform of the country. Absolutely, absolutely. I went there in 1982 for the first time.

And almost nobody spoke English at all. And I was the tallest person by far there. And then, not now, there were very few visitors from different countries. So, you know, it was a very foreign place. But now, of course, it's a big tourist attraction, especially because, unfortunately for them, the yen is... Not great at the moment. So a lot of people are visiting from around the world. The beds were always about two foot too short for me. So either you had your head on the bed or you had your feet on the bed. You couldn't do both. You got to pick one. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And when I had a massage, somebody said, you've got to have a massage. The very first time I went, I opened the door and I was looking for the lady who was the masseur. She was not the same height as me. And she kept saying something. She kept saying, double time, double time. And I realized she said double time. because she wanted twice as much cash because i was so tall it's like it's like it's like in california where they charge you more at the car wash for an suv it's the same kind of the same kind of stuff and i and i think that's fair to be honest you you you just as as a fellow tall person i i feel bad for the the masseuse who's half my size when i walk through that door and i duck under the yeah the the doorway and she looks at me like oh god damn it yeah i'm gonna have to call in the big here we go yeah Double size. Yeah, I'm sure you – but you're a generous tipper at the end. You'll throw her a few hundred thousand yen. Yeah, yeah. I gave her a tip for the 230 at Kempton, the horse race. That was a good tip, but it didn't come good. Pass it off. Do you have a – now, do you have a hotel that you stay in in Tokyo that you've been staying in for years that's your preferred? Yeah, the Park Hyatt, you know, where the – Lost in Translation was filmed, and I know the people in it. I think that's been there about 12 years now, and I went the first week it opened, and I stayed there. It's under restoration at the moment. They closed it. And then the Hotel Okara is a very famous one, which is very nice. They have the Japanese rooms as well.

Sleep on the tatami mats. Now, how does that feel on the back, or do you choose the western bed? I normally go west. I tried it once, and it was okay, actually, but it's just something about being so low down in the room. Do you know the measurement of a Japanese house or a Japanese shop is subo? Subo, not feet. So you say that the room is four subo or six subo. And subo, the measurement of a subo is a tatami mat. Oh, wow. So one subo. Okay. One subo is a tatami mat. And that is from Paul Smith, the school of measurement. That's good. Yeah, a subo, it's the area equal to about 3.3 square meters. Which doesn't help me as an American. I can't comment on that. That's coming straight from AI. Okay, well, what do you think about, what do you think the reason why you've made such a splash and an impression in Japan? Is it you're just such a cute guy and they love what you're doing? To be honest, an element of that is probably, without being, you know, big-headed. An element of that is probably true, but the main thing was in the early days is just hard work and also understanding and being interested in the Japanese way and the way their culture and what amazing respect they have for work and their work ethic and amazing respect they have for older people because older people have experience which they are very impressed by. So it's not considered a bad thing. It's considered a very beautiful quality to have. And also there were lots of designers invited there when I first went. Many, you know, because they were very cash rich in the 80s. And so they were inviting designers from all around the world to try and make a license or agreement with them. And a lot of them were too disrespectful, I think, to the...

the culture and they just wanted money and they didn't really want to put a lot of work in and they all fell by the wayside but i was so excited to go to this place called japan suck it armani yeah he's he's a good boy he he he's there still he's done well boy the boy did good a lot of the other designers didn't didn't take it seriously enough and now they're they're not there Okay. That was a bit serious, wasn't it, for a minute? Sorry about that. No, no, that's actually really interesting, though, because I think that people think they can just go in and do whatever anywhere, and it's not always going to work. Yeah, quite a well-known designer said to me, she said, how come you've done so well in Japan? And she said, you know, and they did the things, I won't swear, but she said the things they will do for me out there are things I haven't. I haven't designed and they do things like the advertising I don't like. And I said, well, how often do you go to Japan? And she said, go. I've only been twice. Yeah. And then how often do you visit? And she said, I've only been twice. And then, you know, how often do you talk to them? Oh, twice a year. How often do you go? She said to me to visit. And I say four times a year and talk to them about every other day. And that's the reason why I've done OK. And that's probably why I've not done well. You know, you're you're a respectful guest in their country and many people. they feel like they might be above that. Or like, I'm the talk of the talk, I'm the cock of the walk, and we're going to do things my way. Yeah, that's exactly true. And sometimes it's a square peg in a round hole. That's really true. And it's a good advice for anybody who's listening. On a serious note, if you go there, you know, take a breath. Take a breath. Listen. Don't be a bellend. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Feel the... the vibe of the country and find out where you fit in, and then maybe you'll do okay. I mean, that's true about visiting a lot of places. That's a good general rule when going anywhere, really. Yeah, that thing, it's an overused phrase, but think global, act local. Good advice. I'll try that next time I'm in Tulsa. Yeah, I mean, everywhere, I mean, growing up myself in Southern California, Orange County, half the people I know,

We're like, I can't wait to get out of here and explore the world. And I want to go to Japan and I want to live in New York and I want to go to Mexico City. And then the other half of the people don't even bother getting a passport. And those are the people that usually end up becoming, you know, just kind of shittier people in general because they don't have the experience with other cultures. Yeah, they're too immersed in their own importance or their own society. And they're not worldly enough. And, you know, you have to be aware, you know, I sell, I work in 65 countries. So, you know, you have to, you know, almost as soon as you touch down in those countries, you just have to, you know, just readjust your mind to the language, the language, the gestures, the local. I always try to, you know, catch up on. things that have happened in the town or the city before i go there you know to make sure i don't talk about um you know that i can have a conversation you know about things yeah that's good yeah i'm sure you have an assistant that gives you a little debriefing of all the local news and like don't talk about the beheading that happened yesterday when you come in here things like that yeah yeah it'll be prickly that that slows conversation down i find yeah yeah yeah you try to kind of The beheading stuff I try not to bring up either. It usually doesn't go that well. Especially if you're trying to get ahead in the country. Don't. Do not. We were just celebrating a Paul Smith anniversary this year, right? Yes. 21 years. No. Actually... I started my company in October the 9th, 1970, before all your listeners were born. So I'm 54 years in business now. So still not bad, you know. And I can still stand on one leg. You know, I can sing. I can cycle through clarages, you know. Well, who were some of the very first people that you were creating clothing items for back in the 70s?

And only stick to the famous people, please. Yeah, yeah. Well, there is Steve. He was a great guy. Made him some trousers. Oh, yeah. Sorry, that tiger's back. Sorry. Yeah, he keeps growling. Yeah. I worked with Jean-Luc Godard. the famous director and Truffaut in France and then obviously you heard my story about Jimmy Page who was very slender Clapton's a very young Rod Stewart who was very stylish at the time used to wear tweed suits A guy called Long John Baldry, Canadian singer. He was very nice. Very cool guy. Very cool. Everybody should look him up and listen to some of his music. Long John Baldry. Was this mostly like word of mouth? Like you do it once and everybody talks and that was how it worked. Yeah, because there was so much. I mean, because it was. I mean, what you guys and your younger listeners. is hard for you to all understand but you know especially in the 70s there was very little fashion around I mean there was fashion but there was not a lot I mean you couldn't just go and get it so I mean you know somebody a young kid that was actually making things himself me in velvet or something was considered like oh there's this kid who makes you know trousers from velvet you know you know you should get hold of him oh who is he oh well you know it was very as you say very word of mouth now you know you've got almost all the all the big brands have their own shops now you know in the beginning those big brands would sell to you know multi-brand shops there wouldn't be yeah you know seven thousand of one one shop in the world so it was just a very different vibe so it was very word of mouth and so uh you know i i lived in i slept on a floor in uh in uh notting hill in london uh and i there was a band called um brian auger above me and a band called um uh oh shit i can't remember the name there's another band below me and

You know, so you were hanging out with musicians and, you know, it was a big West Indian community in Notting Hill. So there was amazing reggae all the time. So you'd make things for them. And so people got to know you. And that's how I sort of, I suppose, why I'm still close to the music industry now, today. Sounds like such an amazing vibe back then, just some reggae music playing. You're measuring some velvet trousers for Led Zeppelin one day, smoking a doobie, while Rod Stewart's throwing a bottle of Jack Daniels against the wall upstairs. It's amazing. Well, it was a lot smaller community then. And, of course, the social media didn't exist, so the small community. talk to each other by going to small gigs. You know, they were amazing. You know, I saw the Stones with about 60 people in the audience. Yeah, that's wild. And we're doing work, you know, we've worked with them for years and years and years, you know, with Mick and the lads, you know. And I just designed the album cover for Hackney Diamonds, the album. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw that. Yeah, we did a limited edition for them. And then we worked with some of the Blue Note label as well because there was, you know, some great jazz clubs in Soho and London. And they were great dressers, the Blue Note guys. They were fantastic. Yeah, really, really cool guys. Early days. Do you play music? Like, could you play guitar or piano? No, I don't. I'd like to do, but, you know, like all of us, I'm sure, you know, we all dream about. The nearest you get to is an air guitar with a stick from the garden. You're really speaking my language. Unfortunately, I'm more of an air drummer, but I can do guitar if I have to. Two sticks from the garden. Well, Paul, speaking of the garden, how many more years until we sort of retire? I don't know what that word is. I don't know what that word is. Yeah, I didn't think so. No, sorry.

Non compreendo. Okay, good. That's okay. But you don't have a fear of retiring, do you? You just choose not to. If I was put out to grass, I would fear it, yeah. Because, you know, we have such a delightful day every day here in this building. It's a shame. This is not being filmed. It's just words. It's just words. There's a bucket of words over there. If you ever want to come and look around the building, if you want me to do something where I walk you around the building and talk to you about the building and your listeners can also see it, I mean, you'd realize why I don't want to retire because the building is so full of joy and amazing. crazy things going on all the time. You wouldn't want to retire. Why collect apples? I've just dropped my earphone or whatever it is called. You dropped the old AirPod. Okay, that's fine. We'll clean that up in post. What are they called? Pods, are they? AirPods. Oh, right. That's a nice name, isn't it? Yeah. So you've created a beautiful... house where you and your employees all work together 180 people over five floors 180 people over five floors in a roof garden and we still paint Here, we still draw. We design all our own shops. We have furnished designers, product designers. We have a photo studio. We do all our own graphic design. So every day, it's just full of this fantastic energy. It's a fantasy factory. It is. Yeah, beam me up, Scotty. Do you guys have a chef that does lunch for everyone or no? Yeah, cheese sandwiches. Okay, so you just kind of – he throws something together. He can put it together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a German. He's Herbert Von Cheese, he's called. Known for his – funnily enough, known for his cheese sandwiches. Yeah, amazing, yeah. Well –

I wanted to ask you, in the last few years, post-COVID, there's been a rise in people working from home remotely over Zoom right now, which is not as fun as in person to the three of us, but it has to be done. As somebody who has this fantasy factory with all your employees under one roof who are actually excited to show up to work every day versus the opposite, what do you think the future lies for the workplace situation? I think it's disappointing. why somebody doesn't want to sit in a traffic jam or go on a crowded train or stand in the rain or walk across a bridge where it's pouring with rain. I understand all that. Or simply put pants on. Yeah. And they want to walk the dog and, you know, take the time. I understand it all. It's just, honestly, in an environment like mine, they're missing out. Maybe not in estate agents or insurance brokers, but maybe. I don't know. But certainly you'd be missing out. And, of course, the other thing is meeting. you know, a partner, a possible partner, because, you know, we've got 1,000, over 1,000 people just in this country. And, you know, lots of people, they meet each other, have social life together, and it's really nice. And now you look at the screen and you go, do you like chocolate? Yes, I like chocolate. Yes. Are you cute? Yes, I do. Do you like fishing? You know, I mean, it's sad, isn't it, really? Yeah. find all that out by hanging out on our roof garden, you know? Yeah, I forgot who said it. Well, we had a guest on our pod a while ago, Scott Galloway, and he talks about that a lot, how I don't remember the exact statistic, but I'm sure back in the 70s, 80s, when you were starting up, the percentage of people who met their husband or wife or spouse at their workplace was something like 40% or something like that. About half the people back then met their partner.

at the office and now and now so many uh young people i know uh either don't have a partner or if they do it's it's because they've met them on a screen you know yeah which is seems to work but i don't think you know it's not as good not as fun i wouldn't have thought you know it's not as fun hi screen how are you nice to see you how are you doing i assume you smell lovely yeah yeah you came and sniffed someone like Oysters? Yeah, I really love oysters. Hate oysters. I can learn to love them for you. Yeah, exactly. Obviously, since COVID, the world has gone so upside down and we shouldn't talk about politics or we'll all jump out the window. But I mean, you know, through social media and modern communication. And playing games with, you know, algorithms and information and stuff. You know, you can, the world is turning to this very odd place, you know, which is, I think, pretty disturbing, you know. I definitely agree. And luckily, Chris and I are right on that age range where we've had a foot in both sides of the pond. So we can appreciate what it was like pre and then we can. Yeah. Hopefully not kill ourselves from the post, you know? Yeah, I mean, I think it'll be really interesting for young children that are coming up now because they will have only experienced such a different world to – well, definitely to my age group and even to your age group, you know, which is – I mean, in America, they're banning cell phones in, like, high schools now. You know, it's kind of it's getting it's kind of crazy, which is going to be tough because children are born with an iPhone in the womb already. So that's going to be traumatic for them when it's pulled away. Yeah, it feels like it feels like a bandaid that is too late a little bit. Yeah. Like, I don't know what that's going to I don't know. Yeah. It's like when you were a kid, Paul, and they would say, hey, no smoking allowed at school. Right. How many people paid attention to that rule? Right. Yeah. There was a very famous Churchill sign that used to call.

For our listeners at home, he was doing the classic making a V with your index and middle finger, the British equivalent of the middle finger. Yes, exactly. You can't be serious. The important thing about the V is palm forward is victory. Harm back is not. I wish you not victory, you son of a bitch. I never realized it was victory. I always assumed this was just a classic peace sign. No, it's victory. I like that. That feels football-coded, kind of. Yeah, absolutely. That's why I didn't know that, then. Who is your team? Who are you a supporter of? My home is Nottingham, so it's Nottingham Forest. But we work with Manchester United. As a company, we work with Manchester United for over 20 years now. And the reason that came about was because I knew George Best very well, the footballer. And so he was a pal of mine, so I sort of got... drawn into Manchester United, even though it's not my local team because of this very famous footballer called George Bates. It's a good team to be aligned with from a branding standpoint. No offense to the Nottingham Forest team, but not as big as Man U, right? No. Yeah, Man U have like 28 million people with a Visa card in Korea. You're like, it's a lot better for us. It's a lot better. They're selling a few more pints than they are in the forest, is what you're saying. Yeah, whereas the forest, they have nine. They're doing fine. They're doing okay. They're getting by. I like the Nottingham Forest logo, though. It kind of reminds me, there's a fast food chain in America called Arby's. It's kind of similar. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. Robin Hood country. Yeah. Okay, well, what do you guys make for Man U? Do you dress them in suits? Do you dress them in casual stuff? Yeah, all off pitch. Off pitch, okay. He's there, he's Paul Smith. Off pitch. Actually, it was interesting because the original, Brian Clough, who was the original manager of Nottingham Forest in the 60s, it was him that actually, let's call it invented, because I don't know what else to say, but invented the idea that

the players would wear, his players would wear suits to go to the match, which was a very psychologically powerful thing because everybody else was in track suits, as they called them then. And they used to arrive looking, we mean business. And that was, of course, they won the... european cup you know i wish the nba i wish the nba would take notes of that those guys show up wearing fucking sweatpants look like teddy bears yeah you know and it doesn't it doesn't really intimidate necessarily uh the other the other team it gets likes on instagram but that's not really the point you know well the suit is quite still quite an interesting thing psychologically because it makes you gives you a certain presence you know makes you Oh, yeah. Often you stand up in a certain way and it has an authority. I love the suit. Totally. Yeah, because, you know, if you were to get on a, you know, come and see me in London, you get on the plane in L.A. or New York and you you arrive at the door of the plane and the pilot is there, you know, in a gap T-shirt and shorts. And he goes, oh, welcome, Sir Paul. Nice to see you on board. And you go. I'm okay. I think I'll stay here. I think I might walk. Yeah, because he's in a t-shirt and shorts. You don't think he has the ability to fly you across the Atlantic, which is very interesting. And of course, the aggression of war uniforms, army clothing, that's a form of suit because that's about looking aggressive. So clothes can really... do a job as well as be just nice things, pleasant things. I completely agree. Do you wear a suit every day? I do, yeah. I like them because they've got lots of pockets and I don't have to think about it because, you know, today I've already done about nine things. You know, I've been photographed for a newspaper. I did some filming this morning. I did a talk for 200 people at 8 o'clock this morning. And, you know, so, you know, if you...

If you were dressed as a teddy bear, some of the meetings would be appropriate to be dressed as a teddy bear. And others, you know, you'd feel a little bit out of place. I see what you mean, though, because the suit, even if you're overdressed, it's better that way. Nobody ever has a problem with a man dressed in a suit. If you're at the petrol station or a wedding, no one ever has a problem with it. But I also feel like you sort of embody. A saying that I've heard in America usually involves fitness more so than sartorial dressing, but you never have to get ready when you're always ready. You show up to work at 8 a.m. with the suit on. You could do a talk. You could do a photo shoot. You could do a podcast. You could do anything, and you will never have to get ready. Yeah, because it's instant kit. Instinct kit. Wow. Yeah, that's a nice way to put it. That's catchy. Yeah, I've got like a navy blue suit, a navy blue roll neck, some absolutely gorgeous socks. Are those Paul Smith? Paul Smith, you made a lot of damn money on socks. I'll tell you what. You deserve an award for that. We only sell a million pairs a year. Actually? Yeah. Actually? Yes. Holy shit. A million pairs of socks? Yeah. That's very impressive. Can you imagine on Christmas Day? Oh, thank you. Socks. They're bright and stripy, too. Wow, thanks so much. And I like navy blue ones. That is really – a million socks is wild. That is very impressive. But I guess there's a lot of feet out there globally. Yeah. I mean, I used to – when I stayed in Beijing and I looked out the window, I thought – That's a lot of underpants. Yeah. Cha-ching. And the best part about socks, you've got to buy two of them, right? So let's double your money right there, brother. Yeah, but we have a special arrangement with all the washing machine manufacturers where we drill a small hole in the corner. So you always lose one sock.

Every time you wash a pair and then people come back for more. Actually, that's great kind of under the table business. I'm starting to see kind of why you're successful. Yeah, yeah. Don't let Japan hear about that little nasty trick. They'll find it disingenuous. It's the business. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, no. Just don't tell anybody, will you? No, no, no. Make sure. Don't worry. No one listens to this, Paul. No one listens to this. No, well, that's why I'm doing it, because I realize it's absolutely, you know, nobody ever listens to this. What's it called? Podge something or other. Guys talking is kind of the genre, the medium, so you fit into that part. You've just done an hour of therapy. We'll bill you tomorrow. Don't worry. We accept pounds. I don't know Bill. Bill who? All right, Paul, thank you for joining us on How Long Gone Today. We really appreciate it. It was a pleasure. I definitely want to come check out the building next time I'm in London. Come to London, both of you, and bring six listeners with you. We'll bring six total. Run the office for the afternoon. We'll run the office. Yeah, that would be excellent. We'll send our sizes over as well as our bicycle sizes. Yeah. Because we'll need to ride through the office. Of course, yeah. And I'll come to an arrangement with clarages. That's perfect. We need us talking. We need someone to go in for us if you could. All right. Thank you, Paul. We'll see you soon. Paul, always a pleasure. Sir Paul Smith, we love you, my friend. Thank you. And hopefully we'll see you soon. I appreciate it. Take care, guys. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye, everybody. I didn't know how to switch it off. That's why we've got all the girls here now trying to do it.

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