Style -- 1 hour ago
This might be the ultimate summer wardrobe
Sunspel's high summer collection will have you looking and feeling like a cast member of The Talented Mr Ripley
If there's one film that epitomises summer dressing, it's The Talented Mr Ripley. Since it was released at the tail-end of the 20th century, the film has been referenced by a multitude of holiday goers, style aficionados and even brands, for its wardrobing and how it effortlessly created the ultimate summer wardrobe. The Academy Award-nominated film is brimming with perfect polo shirts, worthy of the Italian Riviera, camp-collar canvas overshirts and louche tailoring. Dickie Greenleaf et al, played by Jude Law, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, are the blueprint for how to dress stylishly come the turn of summer.
And if you are after a Riviera chic sense of style (who isn't?) on your next summer jaunt, Sunspel is your one-stop-shop of wonders. The brand has just released its High Summer collection, and the likeness to that 1999 film is uncanny. It's the sort of gear we see ourselves wearing over endless summers. Timeless in design, it's full of the pieces that would've had Law and Damon sitting pretty on the Riviera.
Sunspel’s Riviera 1955 collection is inspired by the sun-drenched elegance of 1950’s coastal Europe and the nostalgic surrealism of photographer Herbert List. Sandy in hue, with inflections of navy and green, it's a collection that captures the very essence of coastal escapades. Naturally, the brand's Riviera Polo Shirt is the nucleus of the collection. Originally designed in the 1950s by Peter Hill, who was the great-grandson of Sunspel’s founder, it's a polo shirt that retains an elegant style, but has a construction that does away with the fear of sweat patches. Here it arrives in cream, navy and black, and has been layered under sandy linen suiting from Italy's Como region, or else just worn alone with shorts, for easy, summertime looks.
Elsewhere the collection, which effortlessly places Sunspel as the winner of laid-back summer wear, comprises lightweight tees, chambray shirts, striped swim shorts, buttonless knit polo shirts, knit camp collars crafted from an innovative mesh fabric and straight-leg trousers. In short, they're the building blocks for a wardrobe that belongs by the sea, in 30 degree heat. Vintage stripes give a touch of seaside nonchalance, while the overall soft pastel palette reflects the warmth and tranquility of a proper summer holiday.
The Riviera 1955 collection is available in store and online at sunspel.com
