LOS ANGELES — “Look. I’m wearing this in celebration. Like it?” Sir Paul Smith asked, motioning to the embroidered “P.S.L.A.” on the lining of his chalk-striped suit jacket.
The occasion was his West Coast flagship’s grand opening last Thursday night, which drew friends and fans as disparate as Sir Ken Robinson and his wife, Lady Terry; the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones; Joy Bryant; Rachel Zoe; Angela Lindvall; British jeweler Stephen Webster; Ed Ruscha; Kelly Lynch, and Mitch Glazer.
Some 700 people sauntered through the makeshift garden in the parking lot and into the store that night.
The cavernous, 5,000-square-foot door on Melrose Avenue stands out because of its bold shade of bubble-gum pink along a highly trafficked road that already boasts several rubber-necking attractions.
And it’s only the latest in Smith’s retail portfolio. Earlier this month, he opened in Dubai; Tokyo, New York, Paris and another six stores in China are all slated for 2006. “I love it here. But when I’ll be able to get back to L.A .— that’s going to be tough,” winced the ever-peripatetic designer.