Paul Smith, the British designer label, reported a wider loss for the year to June 2025, FashionNetwork reported on 5 March 2026. Group turnover fell 8% to just over $240 million, the operating loss rose to $14.3 million and the pre-tax loss increased to $22.1 million from $7.2 million a year earlier.
The company said revenue, especially from wholesale, had fallen faster than it could restructure its costs around a new strategy focused on its own shops and digital channels.
Where sales fell and grew
| Channel or measure | Result | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Group turnover | Just over $240 million | -8% |
| Gross profit | $128 million | -7% |
| Retail and e-commerce | Just over $135 million | -3% |
| Wholesale | $83.4 million | -16% |
| E-commerce | 41% of retail sales, up from 35% | +14% |
Source: FashionNetwork, from the company's accounts.
Wholesale, meaning sales through other retailers, was the weakest part of the business and the company said it remains the most difficult. Like-for-like retail sales edged up to $135 million even though like-for-like footfall fell 8%, and online sales grew to 41% of retail turnover.
A better start to the current year
The company reported improvement in the current financial year, which ends on 30 June 2026. Over the holiday trading quarter, like-for-like full-price sales including e-commerce rose 4.2%, full-price retail sales across shops and online rose 11%, and the number of days on discount fell by 20%. Like-for-like footfall in its full-price shops rose 6.8% and e-commerce grew 4.8%. North America was the fastest-growing market, up 18.2%, Europe also grew, and the company named the United States as its main strategic focus for 2026. Sales at Selfridges were significantly higher than a year earlier.
A loyalty program called the Collectors Club, launched in September, has 630,000 members. Full-price sales to members rose 57%, adding $7.9 million in net sales. Searches for the brand rose 28% in the first half of the year and views reached 30 million, up 54%.
New leadership around the founder
Ewan Venters, the former chief executive of Fortnum & Mason, has joined as executive chairman and works with Sir Paul Smith on strategy and commercial discipline. The company described its autumn/winter 2026 menswear collection, shown in Milan, as widely acclaimed and as the start of a new creative chapter for the brand.
What it means for tailoring buyers
The company's strategy now centers on its own shops and website, which already bring in more revenue than wholesale, and fewer discount days mean fewer reduced-price windows for shoppers. If you are comparing a designer ready-to-wear suit with made-to-measure, our guide to bespoke versus made-to-measure sets out the differences in fit and price.
