Designer Steve O Smith has presented his Fall 2026 ready-to-wear collection, incorporating color for the first time in his signature illustrative style. Drawing from 1920s influences like Otto Dix, Edward Burra, and Madeleine Vionnet, the pieces feature hand-dyed tulle and beaded details. Smith used funds from last year's LVMH Prize to build a couture-trained team in London.
Steve O Smith, winner of the Karl Lagerfeld award in last year’s LVMH Prize, showcased his Fall 2026 ready-to-wear collection, elevating his fluid drawings toward haute couture. The award, instituted by Delphine Arnault in the late designer's name, supported Smith's development, as Lagerfeld was known for his prodigious sketching.
Smith's inspirations centered on the late 1920s, including Otto Dix's depictions of post-World War I Berlin's decadent underbelly, Edward Burra's paintings of Harlem nightlife, and Madeleine Vionnet's bias-cut innovations in Paris. This led to paintings transposing character sketches into flapper dresses, bias slip dresses, and impressions of figures like waiters, soldiers, and barflies.
A key evolution was the addition of color to Smith's typically black-and-white register. Washes of red, dabs of pink on peach, and patches of brown appear through layers of hand-dyed tulle, with lines as cut-outs on organza and free-hand bows minutely beaded.
Since his debut two years ago, Smith has attracted loyal customers who commission custom pieces. He invested the LVMH Prize money in assembling a team in London, including an expert cutter, embroiderer, and sewer from couture backgrounds. "We’ve assembled this team—an amazing cutter, embroiderer and sewer. They’ve all come from couture backgrounds," Smith said, adding, "and we're now in a studio that's not my living room."
Smith operates a slow fashion model for private clients via lookbooks and appointments in London and Paris, ring-fencing the prize funds for sustainability. "Loyal customers keep coming back," he noted. The collection highlights the three-dimensional quality of his work, with suggestions that a full runway show could showcase its movement.
