Paul Smith has now opened its highly anticipated flagship store at 929 Madison Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, New York.
Inspired by Sir Paul’s personal home in London’s Holland Park neighbourhood, the two-storey shop presents a “residential meets retail” concept – an approachable setting which follows the designer’s passionate belief in “thinking global but acting local”, where Paul Smith’s tailoring sits alongside modern wardrobe staples.
The new flagship marks Paul Smith’s arrival on the Upper East Side, nearly four decades since the company established its first shop in New York on Fifth Avenue.
From the exterior, a traditional stucco façade is paired with a handcrafted mosaic, created by French artist Alexandra Carron, featuring a needle and thread motif that pays homage to the art of tailoring.
Stepping into ‘Paul’s Lobby’, octagonal floor tiles are referenced directly from his home’s hallway. Antique furniture and reclaimed wood panelling “meet flashes of modern irreverence” – a colossal 19th-century draper’s table, once used for measuring fabric, is now stacked with hundreds of pairs of Paul Smith signature socks, shoes and accessories, with a handcrafted vintage spoon chandelier glinting overhead.
Home to men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections, ‘Paul’s Study’ pairs oak panelling with an area rug, its fringe dip-dyed pink, a bespoke, playful finish against a traditionally British backdrop.
Vintage walnut library chairs are reupholstered by Paul Smith’s longtime textile partner Maharam, celebrating the brand’s signature stripes. The mantelpiece holds a collection of postcards and letters that the designer has gathered over the years, mirroring the one in his private study at home, with an 18th-century folk art model building sitting at its centre.
Upstairs, customers enter ‘Paul’s Jet Lag Room’, a dedicated space for tailoring, occasion wear and made-to-measure services. Echoing his own sanctuary at home, where he resets after long journeys, the walls are wrapped in natural hessian and hung with paintings from years past, alongside ceramics by contemporary British artist Charlotte Salt. There’s also a brutalist side table, and tan leather tub chairs create a relaxed, lived-in atmosphere.
The second floor is finished with reworked parquet flooring by British craftsmen Parquet Parquet, while underfoot there’s a rug from Paul Smith’s latest collaboration with British luxury brand The Rug Company. Completing the domestic narrative, a faux window offers a glimpse onto Paul Smith’s private garden in Holland Park.
A lifelong “connoisseur of the unexpected”, Paul Smith has curated the shop as a living archive of artworks, curiosities and custom-made fittings collected over decades.
Throughout the space, Sir Paul’s unmistakable humour and curiosity reveal themselves in unconventional details, such as a mirror composed of found dominoes, sculptural bird boxes, cast-iron banana-shaped door handles, and a functional speaking tube linking the ‘Jet Lag Room’ to the first-floor cash desk.
Behind the tills sits the Paul Smith signature gallery wall, an eclectic mix of paintings, photographs and prints, all hand-picked by the man himself.
Ahead of the new flagship opening, last month saw Paul Smith launch its AW26 men’s and women’s campaign, aptly shot in New York. The campaign reflects a continued commitment to “bringing British tailoring and craftsmanship stateside”.