Paul Smith Dreams of North Africa, India for Spring 2026 Milan Show

LONDON — Paul Smith is heading south for spring to wander through the markets of Morocco, sail in a felucca on the Nile, and visit a Bedouin camp drenched in sun-bleached color and pattern.

His first stop, though, is Italy, where he plans to show the spring 2026 collection on Saturday. Despite sourcing fabrics and manufacturing in Italy, this is the first time Smith has shown his men’s collection in Milan. He usually shows his menswear in Paris, but was the guest designer at Pitti Uomo in Florence last year and said he wanted to give Italy another whirl.

During an interview this week at his chaotic curiosity shop of an office, Smith said the show will be “very humble.”

He plans to greet guests personally in the courtyard of his showroom on Viale Umbria, and send 20 models onto a runway that stretches over two floors. As the models walk, dressed in military-flecked tailoring and lots of spicy color, there will be music and Smith’s own pre-recorded voice talking about the collection.

“What I like about it is that the audience will be really close to the clothes, which is lovely and also reminiscent of those posh salon shows I used to go to in Paris with Pauline,” said Smith, referring to his wife, a former fashion lecturer who helped him launch his business 55 years ago.

“I like the principle of having a more humble show, the idea of doing things which are more me, more down-to-earth. I think the world is so upside-down right now that it’s just a nice thing to do something that’s personal,” he said, adding that he’s eager to greet his guests, too.

“You never see the designer before a show, but I just want to break those rules and make the whole thing more personal,” said Smith.

The designer started the year with a personal touch, presenting his fall 2025 collection at his Paris showroom. He joined groups of models on a small stage, picked up a mic and went into the detail about the origins of the clothing and fabric and his inspirations.

It was spontaneous and authentic and great to hear Smith speak so fluently about his work. He talked his audience through the origins of thornproof fabrics, space-dyed wool and the Prince of Wales check pattern.

As he zipped around the stage, adjusting the models’ clothing, and pointing to the details on the fabrics like an eccentric fashion professor, he told his audience, “I am 108 years old — you know — and it’s hard work up here.”

The spring 2026 collection comes equally from the heart and was inspired by trips to hot climes that he and Pauline have taken over the many decades they have been together.

During the interview, he produced a vintage souvenir book of Egypt with images of street life, sphinxes, pyramids and ancient Egyptian gods. He said the earthy, sun-bleached colors of the book inspired his spring palette, which includes saffron, cumin, paprika and turmeric.

The palette was also influenced by “the street markets of Morocco and India. You can almost smell the spices — and the bright colors — in this collection,” he said.

Smith worked those colors into lightweight linen, cotton poplin, tropical wool and crisp viscose-linen blend suits — some of which come with drawstring trousers. They’ve been dip-dyed or enzyme-washed to give them a faded appearance — just the look he wanted.

“The clothes look like when you’re traveling or wandering around the market; nothing you’re wearing is pristine,” said Smith, who is a living example of that style.

It’s been unusually hot in London these past few days, and Smith was dressed in a “very old” single-breasted, dark blue Italian cotton suit. He loves it and he wasn’t shy about its lived-in look, pointing to a post-lunch olive oil stain on the trousers.

Smith worked those deep, rich desert tones into some of the patterns, too, such as Bedouin-inspired irregular stripes; hand illustrations of birds, palm trees and the temples of Luxor, and hand-drawn fish prints done in a palette of olive, coral, faded rose and lavender.

The fish patterns swim in brighter seas, too — pools of hot pink, green and blue. Smith said the fish reminded him of looking into the depths of the river from the felucca.  

The fish were part-inspired by one of Smith’s fans, a woman from Japan who regularly sends him painted fish sculptures. Smith plans to turn them into charms that will dangle from silver trouser chains, similar to the one he hooks onto his belt loop so that he doesn’t lose his car keys.

Although this collection has a laid-back holiday feel, there is still lots of tailoring on offer, including unlined jackets as slouchy as cardigans, double-breasted numbers and Nehru jackets.

Other looks have workwear and uniform flair, including a jacket with four patch pockets and a cropped, five-button military-inspired jacket with revere collar, which Smith paired with a high-waist trouser.

Shoes and accessories are soft and light. Leather loafers are designed to slip on and off with ease, and while some of the shoes may look bulky, they’re light as air.

“All shoes now are quite interesting,” said Smith. “They’re bulkier, but they’re still very light. Traditional work shoes were quite hard work because your legs would get pretty tired lifting them. But now, because of microcellular soles, you can make a bulkier shoe, but they’re still very light.”

There are berets, too, a nod to the military elements in the collection. They come in coated linens and cottons to give a fresh take on a summer hat.

Smith is a big believer in tailored clothing and is always looking to offer his clients options for every time of day.  

Of late he’s been making formal suits for school proms and catering to other young men who come in asking for the full suite — shirt, tie, jacket and trousers.

Smith said men are choosing tailoring for all different reasons — weddings, special events or because they want to look different and eschew “the very, very casual look” that has been around for so long.

“We love our tailoring, and we still do well with it, although tailoring has changed in importance in many people’s wardrobes because of COVID,” said Smith, adding that he’s even been doing a modest business in ties.

“We all used to sell half a million ties each year. And they’re selling again, although not necessarily in the quantities that we were used to,” he said, explaining that clients are increasingly asking for tonal looks — with shirts and ties in the same color, print or fabric.

Smith, whose first store in Nottingham, England, measured exactly three square meters, or 32 square feet, is still learning lessons from the shop floor. For years he’s been working as the “Saturday boy” at his Albemarle Street store in Mayfair, and loves listening to his customers.

“People are definitely looking for value for money, and they enjoy the fact that we make clothes that are beautiful, with prices that are sensible. They want tailored clothes, but not necessarily a classic, two-button single-breasted style. They want more of a hint of military, or of a uniform,” said Smith. They also want ease.

“The jacket I’ve been wearing lately is a four-patch pocket seersucker. You can put it in your backpack, and it still looks good when you get it out the other end,” said Smith.

He’s also proud about the merchandising and the feel of the Albemarle Street store.

“We have art, furniture, ceramics, men’s, women’s and bespoke within one space. Somebody said to me last Saturday, ‘I could spend hours here. It’s lovely.’ So many shops you go to around the world are beautiful, but it’s also nice to have shops that are owned by an individual, where granny embroidered the dress and there are brands you’ve never heard of before,” said Smith.

He only has one gripe about working on Albemarle Street — the wages. “They’re lousy. Four pounds for working all day Saturday. Maybe you could talk to one of the bosses,” deadpans Smith, one of London fashion’s few commercial success stories.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2000 and in 2022, Smith joined an elite group of accomplished Britons, becoming a Companion of Honor to the British monarch.

He was the first fashion designer to receive the top honor, which is limited to 65 people at any one time. The honor recognizes “those who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time.” Other Companions include Sir Elton John, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Paul McCartney.

Following the Milan show, the rest of Smith’s year will revolve around the arts.

He’s done the costumes for the new dance production of The Who’s rock opera, which is called “Quadrophenia: a Mod Ballet.” Set to open at Sadler’s Wells in London on June 24, it follows the lives of Jimmy Cooper and his young Mod friends as they wage war on rival Rockers.

Smith said coming up with the costumes wasn’t difficult.

“My age group was weaned on The Beatles, The Stones and The Who, so when they got in touch and asked me about doing a collaboration, I was thrilled. It’s a ‘Mod’ ballet, so it fits in with early Paul Smith so well — the high-button jackets, the polo shirts, the T-shirts with the target on the front and the parkas, plus really amazing dancers,” he said.

Asked about designing for the stage, as opposed to runway, Smith said, “You cut the clothes in a way that gives more movement, and you leave room for additional panels at the back.” 

Colors are mainly navy or black, while fabrics include piquet cotton for the polo shirts, “very lightweight” gabardine for the suits, and a technical fabric for some of the jackets, he said.

The designer’s 2023 museum project, “Picasso: The Collection in a New Light! Under the Artistic Direction of Paul Smith,” is also going on an international tour starting in December. It will travel to Shanghai, Japan, New Zealand and end in South Korea.  Smith was given “carte blanche” to art direct an exhibition at Paris’ Musée National Picasso marking the 50-year anniversary of the painter’s death.

The British designer went with vintage wallpaper, posters, collages of plates and colorful stripes set against some of the painter’s most famous artworks. There was even a room dedicated to “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” drenched in Paul Smith pink.

“I was thinking, ‘If Mr. Picasso was around, would he think this was fun? Would he think this was tongue-in-cheek? Would he think this was a very modern way of showing his work?’ And hopefully he would,” Smith said, adding that he wanted to show Picasso’s works in new, inventive — and Instagrammable — ways.