More Things That Make Us Happy

As a new drop of our PS Paul Smith Happy collection lands, we spoke to a voguer and harpist about the things that put a smile on their face, what happiness looks like to them and how they stay true to themselves.

Share this story

Sometimes happiness is a good meal. Perhaps, to you, it’s a hug from your pet. Or even, once in a blue moon, a pair of jeans that fits you perfectly. But happiness isn’t always a tangible thing. For Josué and Maria, the stars of our latest campaign, happiness comes from the seemingly simple act of perusing their passions. To mark the arrival of a new drop of PS Paul Smith Happy – our collection of optimistic, upbeat clothes – we spoke to the duo about what happiness means to them.

Josué, voguer

Voguing Is something I discovered two years ago, and at first it was a hard thing to wrap my head around because this is something I never knew about or understood. But then as I started to learn more about it, it's just liberating. It's free. You express yourself how you want and when it comes to masculinity and femininity that all goes out the window. You are who you are and you're comfortable. And for me, as a person, I'd say I have feminine traits and masculine traits. But when I'm voguing, I can literally be whoever I want.

Art makes me happy. It just makes me feel free being creative, being expressive in my own form. Just being original and authentic to myself.

The person that I am today, I'm strong and powerful, and I'm sure of myself, which gives me so much confidence. I'm strong, I'm confident, and I'm sure of who I am.

00:00

Maria, harpist

I’ve always loved music. Since I can remember, I’ve love dancing and singing, so it just happened really naturally. And I don’t remember that moment when I wanted to learn music. I just always wanted to do it.

If I know I'm going to perform a big gig or something, that means a lot to me. I always feel a load of excitement and kind of tension building up. And it's almost like I can feel, not just my own excitement, but the energy of the place where I'm going to play and the audience anticipation as well. I don't know how to explain it. Having the attention of so many people given to you so freely: it's very intense, but it definitely feeds us. Performing makes me feel very focused.

If someone told me I can't play the harp ever again, I’d think ‘that's not possible’. It’s unacceptable. I wouldn't be able to comprehend that.

Discover More

Stories

SS23 Men's Show

A collection that takes you from morning to night, gallery hopping around bustling London – and it happens to be the hottest day of the year in the city.

06.22

Stories

Pride: Paul Smith + MindOut

To mark this year’s Pride celebrations, we hosted a listening session exploring ways of supporting LGBTQI+ people with Brighton-based charity MindOut, who specialise in providing mental health services to the community.

06.22

Do you want to keep in touch?

Enter your email