Paul Smith AW26 Takes British Tailoring to the Streets of New York

Paul Smith takes its Autumn/Winter 2026 menswear to New York, using the city as both backdrop and reference point for a collection rooted in British tailoring, everyday dressing and the designer’s own archive.

Photographed by Samuel Bradley and filmed by Cameron Turnbull, the campaign follows a cast of characters through New York, moving between recognisable landmarks and less expected corners of the city. The visual language is playful, with oversized apples, vintage telephones and antique paintings introducing the kind of British wit that has long been part of the Paul Smith vocabulary.

The clothes are more considered than theatrical. At the centre of the collection is Sir Paul’s longstanding relationship with the everyday uniform, revisiting recognisable tailoring silhouettes from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Rather than reproducing the proportions of the period, those references are softened and recalibrated for contemporary wear.

Relaxed tailoring forms the foundation, paired with tactile knitwear and richer seasonal textures. Harris Tweed and Donegal fabrics bring a distinctly British dimension to the collection, reinforcing Paul Smith’s continuing interest in traditional craftsmanship without making the clothes feel tied to a particular decade.

That balance is particularly relevant to the modern suit. The campaign presents tailoring as something that can move through the city rather than remain confined to formal settings: familiar, practical and sufficiently relaxed for the pace of New York. Styled by Ben Schofield, the collection reflects Paul Smith’s ability to treat menswear history as a reference rather than a rulebook. The late-’80s and early-’90s influence is there, but the emphasis is on how those ideas work now.