The Nottingham-born fashion designer Sir Paul Smith presented his spring/summer collection for 2012 in Paris last month and he predicted that the colour orange would soon be all the rage. The New York Times says the collection revealed him as “forever a youth at heart”, and he describes his own styles as “classic with a twist”. His wife Pauline, who taught him about design, says “he loves spinning lots of plates in the air.” RGT
Birthdays today
Mark Cox, tennis player, 68; Paul Daniel, music director, ENO, 1997-2005, 53; the Rev David Deeks, general secretary, Methodist Church, 2003-08, 69; Judith Donovan, advertising executive, 60; Elizabeth Emanuel, fashion designer, 58; Sir Anthony Goodenough, High Commissioner to Canada, 1996-2000, 70; Billy Jenkins, musician; Philip Madoc, actor, 77; Professor Sir Fergus Millar, historian, 76; Professor Sir James Mirrlees, economist, 75; Robbie Robertson, guitarist, 68; Janos Starker, cellist, 87; Dr Sir Simon Stewart, oncologist, 56; Sir John Ure, diplomat, 80; John Wright, cricketer, 57; Jie Zheng, tennis player, 28; Gianfranco Zola, football manager, 45.