In his Spring/Summer 2026 menswear collection, Paul Smith delivered a show that was as much about memory and meaning as it was about menswear.

Held in his longtime Milan base – a former ball-bearing warehouse on Viale Umbria, opened in 2003 – this marked, surprisingly, his first-ever runway show in the city.

“We’ve had a space here for years,” Smith said, “but I just felt it was finally the right moment. Something more intimate, more personal.”

Guests were seated on colourful plastic food crates – a cheeky nod to Smith’s market stall roots and lifelong fascination with the bustle of street trade. That street-level energy ran through the collection itself, which felt rooted in real, tactile experience.

“It’s all about street markets,” Smith told Esquire, in an exclusive walk-through of the collection the morning before the show.

“Flea finds, things with stories – souvenir booklets, jackets, trinkets you stumble upon. This one’s loosely based on Cairo, but it could be Morocco, or it could be India, you know, or even Portobello Road in the old days.”

One such object – a colour-tinted souvenir photo book from a trip to Cairo with his wife Pauline 25 years ago – became the design spark.

Its faded pages – black and white photos that had been “colourised” – informed the palette: earthy terracottas, washed olives, hot pinks and soft corals, seen in gauzy crepes, sun-bleached linens and vintage-feeling cottons.

The result was a collection that felt lived-in yet upscale, cosmopolitan but still personal.

Shirts in tropical prints billowed lightly as models walked; high-waisted trousers and cropped jackets offered a nod to 1950s tailoring, reworked for comfort.

Accessories told their own stories – tortoiseshell hotel key fobs, mock-croc luggage tags, and produce-stuffed net bags, suggesting a traveller mid-journey rather than runway-bound.

“It’s that sense of joy in discovering something, then wearing it your way,” Smith said.

There was plenty of texture and whimsy too: birds and fish were appliquéd onto jackets; berets came topped with charms and shells.

A collection of fishy keyfobs had been inspired by one of Smith’s legion of Japanese fans who send him unusual objects in the post.

The occasional clash of citrus, fuchsia or mauve added to the collage-like spontaneity. And while there was structure in the tailoring, the overall mood was relaxed – a wardrobe for movement, memory, and Mediterranean heat.

“I’m in a lucky position,” Smith noted. “Being independent means I can make it personal. No pressure – just what feels right.”

That sense of authenticity made this Milan debut feel like a homecoming with heart.