The archive’s many garments range from some of Paul’s first designs, including the famous spaghetti-print shirt, to outfits donned by the likes of David Bowie, Bono and Noel Gallagher, one-oL runway pieces featuring fabrics sourced from around the world, Paul’s personal collection of vintage cycling jerseys, and even a multi-armed coat, designed by Paul to celebrate his knighthood – his very own ‘coat of arms’. The inaugural artist, Alice Poyzer, has been nominated by photographer Julian Broad.
Julian is a long- time collaborator with Paul Smith, working on campaigns & look-books from the 90's through to some of our most recent collections. Alice is a British photographer, working predominantly with both documentary portraiture and constructed imagery. Recently, Poyzer has won the Paris Photo Carte Blanche Award 2024 with her current ongoing project 'Other Joys', and won the British Journal of Photography Female in Focus Award for a body of work which will be shown at Glasgow Gallery of Contemporary Photography later this year.
Last Tuesday saw the first of Alice's six visits to the Paul Smith Archive, in Nottingham, accompanied by Archive Manager Alice O'Hanlon. The day was spent showing both Alice & Julian around various objects & garments that map out the journey of Paul Smith & his brand from first collection to present day.
Immediately drawn to Paul's earlier garments, Alice has since begun forming ideas that combine her documentary portraiture practice with the items and materials within the archive. Julian Broad's attendance of the first meeting brought an insight that helped inspire Ali ce on beginning her journey within the Archive Residency, bringing a sense of life to the objects whilst being able to relive memory through the treasure trove of artefacts. Whilst looking through garments, the year of Alice's birth stuck out to her, making note of the collections from that year with a potential to work with them as a starting point.
On-site Archive Manager Alice O'Hanlon gave insight into images laid out illustrating Paul's first trip to Paris, showcasing his garments in a hotel room, reflecting the energy of the brand in its beginnings. We spoke about his iconic designs, that can be seen in our archive videos and how clothing could be an important way of navigating the resi dency programme with regards to Alice's work in response.
We're excited to keep you in the loop on the progression of Alice's work throughout the six months leading up to her final works, stay tuned to our social media platforms in the coming weeks for more info on the artist, the nominee and the amazing archive at Paul Smith.