Jumpers, architecture and how I became a designer.

I first came across John Smedley when I walked into a fashion designers shop in Nottingham some 15 years ago. I had recently completed a fine art degree and was looking for a studio space to continue my work.

I got talking to the shop owner and found he was a clothes designer and the clothes in his shop he designed himself. I was impressed by their simplicity and quality. Although I was creatively minded I new little about design let alone clothes.

I showed him some of my work and he liked what he saw and he then offered me some studio space for free in the basement.

I stayed for a year. John was a talented designer he introduced me to his ideas on what made great design. He often talked about the simplicity in design and how the best design is not always obvious. There was a number of designers and products we talked about, I remember one day him comparing Mies Van der Rohe (the great american architect and furniture designer) to a John Smedley jumper. At the time I found this completely bizarre as I could’nt see the comparison. His point was that if an object is considered in its quality of detail and engineering the it will end up looking good without too much effort. It was this conversation of comparing a John Smedley jumper with a piece of architecture that has stuck in my mind all these years. It was that year, a conversation comparing a Smedley Jumper with a Mies Van der Rohe building and the generosity of John that inspired me to become a designer. I’ve successfully worked as a designer for 15 years now and always held at the forefront of my mind that good design principles apply to all forms of design, weather its a building or Jumper!