Paul Smith opened his first store, a three-square-meter space on Nottingham's Byard Lane, on October 9, 1970, stocking his own shoes, trousers and blazers alongside menswear from other labels. A cycling accident in his teens had redirected him toward fashion after ending his hopes of a cycling career. By 1974 the shop had outgrown its space, and six years after opening, Smith showed his first Paris collection (four shirts, two knitwear pieces, one jacket and two trousers), a modest start for what's since grown to more than 130 stores across over 60 countries.