Sporting the love

Before Paul Smith became a British fashion icon, his sole ambition was to become a racing cyclist. The forthcoming London Olympics 2012 and Paralympic Games made Smith revisit his old love. The Isle of Man Post Office’s special design project commissioned him to design a set of seven stamps in commemoration of the games. The set of stamps (Smith describes them as “optimistic”) are in vibrant reds, greens and blues. “I worked on the designs for one year because the job was quite complicated with the various things you have to include officially on a stamp; the logo, the Queen’s head, etc.” The designer has also worked on a set of five modal and cashmere summer scarves with the flags of five sporting countries competing for the games: Britain, France, the US, Italy and Jamaica.

The Paul Smith flag scarves will be available online at www.paulsmith.co.uk from April.