Paul Smith on his muse Anni Albers: 'The rest of us are still struggling to catch up'

Ahead of a major show of her work, the designer talks about his new collection inspired by her Paul Smith races up the stairs of his studio, charging through a corridor crammed with vintage prints, art books, old records, racing bikes and tchotchkes of every conceivable description. Moments later, we're in a bright, open-plan room where, at 9.15am, young designers are blearily firing up their computers. Smith - hair artfully shaggy, windowpane-check navy suit as dapper as you'd expect - begins r...