Sir Paul Smith and Mini appear to ‘get on’. Their relationship stretches again to 1998 when the previous collaborated with the latter to create a small 1800-unit manufacturing run of the unique Mini automotive with some refined exterior and inside tweaks.
Paul Smith’s Mini collaborations, from 1998 to the current day
(Picture credit score: Mini)
Solely formally offered within the UK and Japan they now unsurprisingly maintain their worth higher than common Minis from the identical period. There was additionally a one-off Paul Smith Mini in 1999 painted within the designer’s signature stripe to rejoice 40 years of the launch of the very first one in 1959.
Mini Strip x Paul Smith, cork-clad inside
(Picture credit score: Mini)
Extra lately the 2021 Strip idea instructed how a Mini Cooper’s inside color, supplies and end might be radically reinterpreted after which in late 2025 a full manufacturing Mini Paul Smith Version – based mostly on the Cooper vary – was launched in Japan, with deliveries due worldwide in Spring 2026 from £32,705.
Wallpaper* had an unique chat with the affable British designer in Tokyo after the launch to search out out extra about his newest Mini challenge and his views on color, supplies and end.
Sir Paul Smith and the Mini Paul Smith Version
(Picture credit score: Mini)
Wallpaper*: There are exceptions, however many automotive x style collaborations appear fairly dangerous. Why did you suppose you would do higher?
Paul Smith: I’ve seen ones the place the designer actually simply places their title on the automotive and possibly one pink line. I used to be decided not to do this. It could be embarrassing. However with a job like this, you’ll be able to’t do a distinct type of automotive since you inherit the automotive that’s there. So to begin with, you’ve obtained to love the automotive, which I do. Then you definitely suppose, ‘what can I do?’
Mini Paul Smith Version in Impressed White
(Picture credit score: Mini)
W*: Was it at all times a part of the plan to launch a Mini x Paul Smith manufacturing automotive after the 2021 Strip idea?
PS: Actually, I can’t keep in mind, however I’ve at all times stored in contact with Mini. You’ll be able to misbehave a bit with idea vehicles however to do a manufacturing automotive may be very thrilling.
Mini Paul Smith Version in Midnight Black
(Picture credit score: Mini)
W*: The place do you suppose your uncommon sense of color comes from?
PS: I typically underestimate the significance of my spouse. She studied style and couture initially, however then as a mature scholar went to the Slade College of Artwork and painted.
So plenty of our weekends are spent Caravaggio, Cezanne or numerous renaissance work and whenever you have a look at these masters of portray and see among the colors they put collectively, they’re magical. You suppose, ‘I’d by no means think about these two colors collectively’. I believe the gray with the inexperienced on the Mini Paul Smith Version appears to be like attention-grabbing.
Mini Paul Smith Version in Assertion Gray
(Picture credit score: Mini)
W*: Do you subscribe to color idea?
PS: Undoubtedly not. Typically folks ask whether or not I have a look at color predictions and issues like that? And I say, ‘No, hopefully I give them.’ However I did a challenge with the Anni Albers Basis for the Tate Trendy that was unbelievable and after I was in my early twenties, I labored as a colourist for Benetton.
Mini Paul Smith Version, inside seat element
(Picture credit score: Mini)
W*: And what about supplies?
PS: We nonetheless work with yarn loads, whereas almost each design firm now simply does color on the pc. We take yarn and wrap it round a card and get the stripes and put colors collectively, as a result of what folks overlook about garments is that yarn is three-dimensional, so the colors mirror on one another.
Mini Paul Smith Version, steering wheel element
(Picture credit score: Mini)
W*: What different points do you think about?
PS: I really feel captivated with texture and getting folks to consider it. My workplace is a giant maze of stuff. In there, you’ll see small and large, tough and clean and shadows. That ‘tough and clean’ generally is a Harris tweed with a silk shirt. In a automotive, you’ll be able to have tough and clean too, but it surely’s hardly ever there.
Mini Paul Smith Version, inside
(Picture credit score: Mini)
W*: Do you hit payday if Mini sells a sure variety of these vehicles?
PS: I’m the one that ought to know, however I by no means know. Actually, it at all times begins with whether or not I’m taken with doing one thing. I get provided plenty of collaborations and typically the very first thing folks speak about is the cash. That’s a put-off for me instantly, as a result of it’s usually the unsuitable job. To do a very good job you’ve simply obtained to wish to do it.
Sir Paul Smith and the Mini Paul Smith Version
(Picture credit score: Mini)
(Picture credit score: Mini)
Mini Paul Smith Version, from £31,205, Mini.co.uk, @Mini
PaulSmith.com, @PaulSmithDesign
Supply: Wallpaper
