ONAGAWA, Miyagi Prefecture--Fashion designer Paul Smith has a special gift for this tsunami-devastated town: cycling jerseys for a race to be held to support rebuilding efforts in the Tohoku region.
Smith, a big cycling fan, met Mayor Yoshiaki Suda on April 3 and said he would design the official jerseys for the event to be held in the Sanriku coastal area in September.
“I was impressed with the speed of recovery in disaster areas,” said Smith, 70, who was visiting the Tohoku region for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami hit in March 2011.
Smith, who originally dreamed of becoming a professional racing cyclist, said he is considering creating jerseys with the “Cycling Stripe” design, which would combine the colors of his bicycle brand collection.
Part of the proceeds of sales of the tops would be donated to a reconstruction support fund.
The annual cycling event, “Tour de Tohoku,” was started in 2013 to bolster recovery efforts.
Yahoo Japan Corp. and Sendai-based newspaper company Kahoku Shimpo Publishing Co., which sponsor the event, had asked Smith to design the jerseys.