High-pressure design studios in Milan and Paris are at the heart of the fashion industry. But when temperatures rise, even the busiest designers choose to slow down, don swimwear and decamp to the Mediterranean – a pause very much encouraged by luxury Italian manufacturers’ religious commitment to the extended August break.

Brands have also been discovering that there are new ways to meet clients while lounging by the beach and have been embarking on a series of less expected, sunny collaborations with their favourite beach clubs, seaside hotels and even restaurants. Designers aren’t just creating exclusive summer collections for these destinations – they are now also custom-making parasols and sunloungers in their favourite shades or adding cocktails to a hotel’s menu. We round up some of our favourite fashion and hospitality tie-ins.

---

1.
Zeus+Dione
Lake Vouliagmeni
Athens

Legend has it that nymphs once inhabited the waters of Athens’ Lake Vouliagmeni, drawing unsuspecting men beneath its serene surface. A quiet pull endures today – one glance at the lake’s majestic landscape, framed by a large rock formation, lush greenery and glassy waters, is enough to lure you in. “When we visited the lake we saw the dramatic rock and the beautiful still waters,” says Dimitra Kolotoura, co-founder of Zeus+Dione, Athens’ flagship fashion label. “It started a fascinating design process for our creative director, Marios Schwab.”

Recently, the popular summer destination has become accessible again having been given a fresh look by creative consultant Athan Mytilinaios. Naturally, the Zeus+Dione team started spending more time in this corner of the Athenian Riviera, swimming in the clear waters or feasting on the seafood at Abra Ovata, the site’s Mediterranean restaurant. As a result, Kolotoura, Schwab and Mytilinaios joined forces to custom-design sunbeds, loungers, umbrellas and cushions for both the beach club and the restaurant. “Zeus+Dione is a custodian of Greek craftsmanship and a fantastic ambassador of Greek culture,” says Mytilinaios, explaining why it made sense to bring a fashion label on board.

Kolotoura is adamant that Zeus+Dione has never been a traditional fashion label so working with new mediums was part of the appeal. She tapped wood engraver Pantazis Tselios to create a one- of-a-kind motif that was printed on the sunloungers and umbrellas all around Lake Vouliagmeni’s beach club. “We’re used to working with people who have an ability to create with their hands,” she says, pointing to the intricate pattern, which pays homage to Byzantine art as well as the lake’s natural landscape. A closer look reveals details including rock, seaweed and Mediterranean flora carved into the wood. The finished pattern was then printed on durable technical fabric, used to upholster the club’s furniture. Lake Vouliagmeni formed naturally some 2,000 years ago when a cavern collapsed following an earthquake. It is now protected under the Natura 2000 network of conservation areas across Europe and its beach club differs from the traditional approach. “The place is about Zen and wellness, which is why we wanted to work with a brand that understands that good things take time,” says Mytilinaios.

For Zeus+Dione, the partnership offered a chance to tell its story away from the shop floor. “When someone visits the venue, they can discover how it aligns with our values and what we stand for,” says Kolotoura, who plans to unveil new phases of the collaboration next year. “Fashion wants to sell experience,” says Mytilinaios. “But there’s a limited number of experiences that you can offer if you only stay within your own realm.”
zeusndione.com; lakevouliagmeni.gr

---

2.
Louis Vuitton
Taormina cocktail bar
Sicily & Saint-Tropez

This summer, Louis Vuitton is diving deeper into hospitality by opening a series of culinary outposts around the Med. In the Sicilian town of Taormina, the French luxury house’s shop on Corso Umberto is opening its rooftop for guests to enjoy a cocktail at the new Le Bar Louis Vuitton. With views of the sea and the medieval town, the venue also offers contemporary takes on Sicilian classics courtesy of chef Dionisio Randazzo, who heads the nearby Nunziatina restaurant.

Meanwhile, in Saint-Tropez, the brand is once again taking over the White 1921 hotel. For the third year in a row chefs Maxime Frédéric and Arnaud Donckele are working together to infuse different cultural flavours in the menus. “Louis Vuitton is all about travel so the dishes have touches of Bangkok, France and Italy,” says Donckele. The result is a sun-soaked atmosphere in which French culinary excellence meets Mediterranean flavours, just a few steps away from the Louis Vuitton shop. “It’s a vibe: gastronomy with friendly service and music,” says Donckele. “We’re thinking about a lifestyle.”
louisvuitton.com

---

3.
CDLP
Hotel Passalacqua
Lake Como

When Andreas Palm, co-founder of essentials and resort-wear label CDLP, first met Valentina de Santis, the CEO of Hotel Passalacqua, the pair were still students in Minneapolis. They couldn’t have predicted that, 20 years later, they would be sitting by Lake Como, orchestrating fashion and hospitality projects together.

Palm, who is based in Stockholm, began his career in hospitality and spent a few years organising guests’ trips to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, the second Como hotel property belonging to De Santis and her family. When CDLP first ventured into swim and resort wear, it designed an exclusive capsule for the hotel. “This was before collaborations between fashion brands and hotels were so common,” says De Santis. “But we had so much fun. Andreas is so creative so I just follow his process.”

This summer the duo decided to continue the fun – and think bigger – with a fully fledged swim and resort-wear collection for men, which will be sold at the hotel’s boutique and on its e-commerce site, Sense of Lake. There’s also a sleek campaign featuring celebrated menswear stylist Robert Rabensteiner sporting the line. Think printed shirts inspired by vintage postcards, tailored swimming trunks made from recycled ocean waste and pool sets that can be worn for a relaxed sunset dinner. “If someone loses their luggage, they’ll find everything they need in this collection,” says Palm.

This type of tie-in might now be a lot more common in the worlds of fashion and hospitality but, for De Santis, there needs to be a personal story behind each project for it to be successful. “There isn’t really a strategy behind these collaborations, if I’m honest,” she says. “But each one has a lot of heart in it and, in this case, there’s a friendship behind it all. We don’t want to follow trends or create something according to guests’ expectations. The hotels are also our homes so we do what we love and aim to surprise our visitors. Giving a personality to a hotel and making people dream is important.”

Palm echoes her ideas, stressing that cultural value outweighs commercial motivation. “People are tired of collaborations that are just meant to drive sales,” he says. “It’s getting a bit boring. We want to work with people who we feel that we are aligned with in terms of values and aesthetics, and build something that will stand the test of time.” The eye-catching prints featured on some of the shirts and scarves in the collection are inspired by vintage postcards and represent quite a departure for the Swedish label, which is known for its understated aesthetic and monochromatic colour palettes. But to capture the visual richness of the Hotel Passalacqua, it was worth veering into new territory. “We always want to take things to a new level with this type of collaboration,” says Palm. “People are ready to go a little wild on holiday. You’re in a different mood if you’re in the Amalfi or Lake Como, rather than spending a regular Tuesday at home. It’s like stepping into a role – the holiday version of yourself.”

Our holiday selves also happen to be more willing to splurge, creating fertile ground for brands to meet new customers and encourage them to take sartorial risks. “A hotel director who I was speaking to called holiday spending ‘funny money’,” says Palm, who plans to celebrate the summer season and the launch of the collection with boat rides and long lunches with friends at the Passalacqua garden. “I think this is the most beautiful hotel in the world,” he says.
cdlp.com; senseoflake.com

---

4.
Jacquemus Jondal beach club
Ibiza

Born and raised in the south of France, designer Simon Porte Jacquemus is the fashion industry’s resident Mediterranean: always in favour of breezy linens, sunny stripes and dance parties that end at sunrise. The sun is inscribed in his eponymous label’s DNA and over time he has perfected the summer uniform with signature striped shirts, lightweight dresses and raffia handbags.

This year, to celebrate the arrival of warmer days, the Paris-based brand is leaving its home turf and flying to Ibiza – more specifically, to Casa Jondal on the island’s rocky southern coast. As part of a new, hospitality-focused collaboration, Jacquemus is fitting out the chic beach club with banana-yellow parasols and sunloungers that have playful polka-dot details echoing the brand’s spring/summer 2025 collection. Our favourite addition? An area reserved for playing pétanque, the French summer ball game par excellence.

Since founding his business in 2009, the French designer has been cleverly tapping into the power of sunny locations for his runway shows, inviting guests to Provençal lavender fields, modernist houses in Capri or art museums in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Extending this approach beyond the runway and into the realm of hospitality offers an opportunity to experience the label’s Mediterranean charm off-season too.

At Casa Jondal, you can spend the day under the club’s bright-yellow parasols, settle in for a sundowner with a tequila-based cocktail or enjoy signature seafood dishes such as fried squid, red prawn carpaccio and caviar.

You can also visit the temporary boutique on the beach and browse an exclusive resort collection of menswear, womenswear and accessories, including raffia hats and shirts featuring the same banana-yellow shade as the sunloungers. A series of novelty items including caps, keyrings and mugs double up as souvenirs of a beach holiday well spent.
jacquemus.com

---

5.
Ulla Johnson
Quinta da Comporta Carvalhal

New York-based designer Ulla Johnson has always embraced a sunny, bohemian spirit, no matter which season she is designing for. Her summer ranges in particular are filled with breezy dresses, lightweight broderie anglaise fabrics and elegant swimwear, inspired by Johnson’s travels and the artisan communities that she works with across the globe, in countries from Peru and Brazil to the Philippines.

This summer the designer is indulging her love of travel even further with a takeover that is soon to come to wellness resort Quinta da Comporta in Portugal during the first two weeks of July. The project includes ikat-print and hand-loomed robes and towels, which will be available for guests to use around the hotel and purchase at its boutique, alongside Ulla Johnson’s ready-to-wear range.

There’s also a new cocktail and health tonic concocted by Johnson – ideal for enjoying after a visit to the Oryza Spa or following a dip in the infinity pool.
ullajohnson.com; quintadacomporta.com