Paul Smith isn't in the news a lot, but maybe he should be, because he says some amazingly blunt things in the Telegraph's profile of him today.

First, he hates fashion shows, even though they allow the industry to assess who's cool and important and who's not through very high-school means:

"I've always preferred the creative process of designing and selling clothes to the idea of putting on a poncey fashion show. It would be wonderful if fashion shows died out completely. They're so time-consuming and costly."

He also doesn't care if fashion shows are good for young designers, and seems to feel a bit bad for those models who have to walk down the runway with their breasts showing:

"It's their 15 minutes of fame: pure, self-indulgent theatre. How many girls were there this year in horns or neck braces with bare breasts? It wouldn't matter if they didn't take it all so seriously, but the fashion world is a dangerous, superficial and fickle place."

He doesn't care what people wear:

"If a person is nice, with good manners, I couldn't give a damn if he's wearing a shell suit."

He is sick of celebrity designers:

"I'm not interested in all that. Those celebrity designers … " he sighs, referring to the surge of high-street collections by figures like Madonna, Lily Allen and Kate Moss, "they have neither the training nor the design awareness necessary in the business, which means it must be purely about ego and money. I wouldn't bring in a celebrity to work at Paul Smith in a million years. Actually," he leans forward, "make that a trillion."

And the kicker:

"I have a really enjoyable, interesting life, and I'm aware of that every day."

Sir Paul Smith: 'It's clothes I love, not fashion' [Telegraph UK]