Sir Paul Smith, Britain’s foremost fashion designer, has been invited by RCS Sport Cycling to design the leaders’ jerseys for the 2013 Giro d’Italia. Renowned for his creative spirit, Paul Smith has designed the four jerseys, starting with the iconic Maglia Rosa, the pink jersey worn by the race leader.

During Milan Fashion Week, Sir Paul Smith’s showroom is the meeting point for journalists, fans and fashion lovers from all over the world that appreciate RCS Sport’s exciting project, the seeds of which were sown during an informal meeting with the designer during the Giro d’Italia in 2011. Describing his involvement in the project, Sir Paul Smith explains: “Having been a huge cycling enthusiast and follower of the major tours and classics for many years, it’s an absolute privilege to be asked to design the four jerseys for the Giro d’Italia.”

The Maglia Rosa (sponsored by Balocco) is the jersey worn by the leader of the time general classification. The Red Jersey is worn by the leader of the points general classification and it’s sponsored by Italo. The Blue Jersey, sponsored by Mediolanum bank, is the symbol of the King of the Mountain classification leader. And finally the White Jersey is worn by the best young rider in the general classification and sponsored by Fratelli Orsero. Each Giro d’Italia official jersey, produced for the seventeenth consecutive year by Santini Maglificio Sportivo, will acquire the touches of originality and exclusivity that are trademarks of the designer’s ranges.

In addition to the British designer’s signature on the jerseys’ collar, the left sleeves will bear the iconic Paul Smith stripes as the hallmark of his work. The inside of the collar of the Maglia Rosa also bears the signature of the late Fiorenzo Magni as a tribute to the unforgettable campione who died last December, having given so much to the Giro d’Italia and Italian cycling over the years.

The Giro d’Italia is a cycling stage race organised by RCS Sport on behalf of La Gazzetta dello Sport, with almost 200 riders coming from all over the World taking part. This year will be the 96th edition of the Giro, which began in 1909. The race will start on 4th May with the Grand Departure in Naples. The riders will then face 21 stages (23 days in total including two rest days) finishing up on May 26th in Brescia. The winner of the 2012 edition was Canadian Ryder Hesjedal.

The Giro d’Italia is the most prestigious cycling race in the RCS Sport portfolio: Milan – Sanremo, Il Lombardia, Tirreno – Adriatico, Strade Bianche and Gran Piemonte are the other international cycling events organised by RCS Sport.

“I started cycling at the age of 12 and raced until I was 18. A bad crash put me in hospital for several months, after which I discovered the world of creativity, design and fashion and started my career, which luckily has progressed to what it is today. During that period I have always followed cycling and have been privileged to meet many key riders, building friendships with Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish, David Millar and many more. I also have a huge collection of jerseys from the 70s right up to current times, often signed by the riders. With all this in mind, it was an absolute honour and delight to be asked to design the four jerseys for the Giro and I hope that the simple approach that I’ve made is acceptable to you all; putting red piping with the pink, cleaning all of the jerseys up to keep them as simple as possible and adding a little drawing of a cyclist by myself onto the jerseys,” says Paul Smith.

“I am thrilled with this collaboration. This is further recognition that the Giro d’Italia is more than a leading sports event, it’s a brand leader in global sport events, a point of reference for its capacity to merge history and traditional values with innovation and experimentation, and which underpin its future evolution”, says RCS Sport Marketing Manager Marco Gobbi Pansana.

“Last year at the Giro Grand Arrival in Milan, I showed Sir Paul Smith behind the scenes at the Corsa Rosa. His knowledge and passion for the sport were clear as we walked around, soaking up all the emotions and sensations that an occasion like this evokes. After that day it was clear that the dream of an iconic designer shaping the Maglia Rosa would soon become a reality.”
 

Paul Smith Biography
Paul Smith is Britain’s foremost designer. He is renowned for his creative spirit, which combines tradition and modernity. Famous for its clothing and accessories collections, Paul Smith specialises in an inventive use of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge design to create beautifully-made, desirable, modern pieces.

Paul Smith is a tastemaker – a leader of British and international design trends. With an enthusiasm for eclectic cultural references and idiosyncratic combinations of pattern and colour, applied with understatement, Paul Smith expresses a truly contemporary aesthetic.

Paul Smith is loved across the world – its customers range from the creative community to students, and from Hollywood actors and pop stars to business professionals. From its origins in one small shop in Nottingham, England, in 1970, Paul Smith has grown into a global business, selling to five continents. Starting with one men’s collection, the business has grown to comprise 12 collections for men and women and children, including, shoes, accessories, fragrance, home furnishings and jeans.

Paul Smith has shops globally – including in London, Paris, Milan, New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo – and stages fashion shows four times a year on the catwalks of London and Paris. Throughout its development Paul Smith’s values of curiosity, quality and authenticity have remained constant.