Summer is a time for living with abandon; for freeing yourself from quotidian routines and making straight for the nearest beach. Dressing for the season should be approached with a similarly liberatory spirit: the heat of summer calls for embracing your instincts for the playful and the brightly hued, a more is more aesthetic befitting a mood of escapism, where, for a tantalising brief few months, you can reveal a whole different side of yourself (both metaphorically, and, for the brave, physically).
As seen in the Wallpaper* June Travel issue, Bulgaria-born, London-based photographer Irina Shestakova and Wallpaper* fashion and creative director Jason Hughes capture this spirit of playful abandon, proposing a pile-up of accessories that look best on the beach. From raffia totes, bag charms and candy-like strings of necklaces to barely-there swim trunks and fluoro T-shirts – as well as bikes and snorkels – this is our directive to let go this summer, and give into your desire for escape.
Explore the story below.
Splash out! This summer’s best accessories
This page, earrings, £1,000, by Bea Bongiasca (enquire beabongiasca.com). Top, £550; bag (on left shoulder), £1,300; bag (on right shoulder), £1,300; hair clip, £345; bikini briefs, £460; bag (in left hand), £1,800, all by Été Celine (available at The Corner Shop Selfridges until 16 May). Towel, £85, by Tekla (available teklafabrics.com)
Sunglasses, £290, by Gucci (enquire gucci.com). Necklace, £275, by Casablanca (available casablancaparis.com). Bag (left side of chest), £2,500 (available valextra.coml); bag (right side of chest, available valextra.coml), £1,800; bag charms, £350 each; bag (tied to bag), £950, all by Valextra (available valextra.com). Watch, £23,500, by Hublot (available hublot.com). Swimming briefs, £125, by Vilebrequin (available vilebrequin.com). Bag (in hand), £1,760, by Prada (available prada.com). Headphones, £499, by Dyson (available dyson.co.uk)
Opposite, sunglasses, £350, by Loewe (available loewe.com). Necklace, £150, by Crystal Haze (available thestorebytwenty.com). Shirt, £1,300 (available hermes.com); bag (across chest), £11,000; towel, £600, all by Hermès (enquire at hermes.com). Bag (on shoulder), £755, by Pierre Hardy (available pierrehardy.com). Headphones, £500, by Montblanc (available montblanc.com). Bag (in hand), £3,300, by Dior (available dior.com). Swimming briefs, stylist’s own
Mask and snorkel, £59, by Tusa (available divingdirect.co.uk). Swimsuit, £590; bag (on left shoulder), £2,260; bag (off arm), £3,300; bag charm, £500; bag (on right shoulder), £5,450, all by Louis Vuitton (enquire at louisvuitton.com)
Hat, £350 (available loewe.com); bag (across chest, available loewe.com), £750, both by Loewe. Necklace, £594, by Crystal Haze (enquire crystalhazejewelry.com). Bag (on left shoulder), £4,500, by Fendi (available fendi.com). Bag (under right arm), £3,080, by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello (available ysl.com). Swimming briefs, stylist’s own
Top, £1,850 (enquire gucci.com); sunglasses, £430 (available gucci.com); bag (in right hand), £1,570, all by Gucci (available gucci.com). Necklace, £214, by Crystal Haze (enquire crystalhazejewelry.com). Bag (on right shoulder), £450, by Pierre Hardy (available pierrehardy.com). Bag (across chest), £785, by Montblanc (available montblanc.com). Swimming briefs, £95, by Vilebrequin (available vilebrequin.com). Bag (in left hand), £2,100, by Connolly (available connollyengland.com). Baseball cap, £425, by Loewe Paula’s Ibiza (available loewe.com)
Swimsuit, £970; bag (on wrist), £4,875; bag (on shoulder), £4,540; bag (on shoulder), £4,875, all by Chanel (enquire at chanel.com). Earrings, £310; cuff, £605, both by Goossens (enquire at goossens-paris.com)
Models: Mia and Tsion at Next, Nikita, Adam and Eden at IMG, Chanula at Milk. Casting: Nico at Ikki Casting Hair: Christos Bairabas. Make-up: Victoria Martin using Haus Labs. Manicure: Olivia Gane using Chanel Le Vernis and Chanel La Crème Main. Photography assistants: Federico Covarelli and Sam Sorabjee. Fashion assistant: Lucy Proctor Hair assistant: Malita Nagelyte. Production assistant: Archie Thomson.
A version of this article appears in the June 2025 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.
-
African brutalism explored: from bold experimentation to uncertain futureDiscover the complex and manifold legacies of brutalist architecture in Africa with writer and curator Fabiola Büchele
-
What to see at Frieze Seoul 2025Don't miss this mix of contemporary and established artists at Frieze Seoul, 3-6 September; here’s our guide to the fair and what's on around the city
-
Four under-the-radar travel destinations to book in 2026 – before everyone else doesYou'd be forgiven if none of these locations are on your travel bingo card – yet
-
Inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe, A/W 2025’s best menswear captures a ‘menacing elegance’‘A menacing, seductive elegance,’ is how Anthony Vaccarello described his A/W 2025 menswear collection for Saint Laurent, capturing a mood that ran through the season. Here, as seen in Wallpaper’s September 2025 cover shoot and film, a series of looks that invite a sense of risk when dressing for the months ahead
-
Embracing the colour brown, fashion’s most underrated hueSimon Chilvers pays ode to the colour brown, a surprising fashion staple: ‘Fall for the charms of brown and its appeal swells; its appearances multiply’
-
Dressing for pleasure: why this season is all about a ‘raw glamour’For A/W 2025, designers reimagined tropes of glamour, luxury and femininity in subversive style
-
The anatomy of a Celine bag: inside the house’s idyllic Tuscan factoryWallpaper* visits the serene Italian factory where Celine crafts its celebrated ‘Triomphe’ handbags, which is set against an inspiring backdrop of lush Tuscan countryside
-
Ten boat shoes that put a playful twist on the footwear classicFrom Miu Miu’s viral riff on the nautical staple to those that are studded, slip-on, square-toed or two-tone, the Wallpaper* team select the best boat shoes of the season – a style set to be ubiquitous over the coming months
-
Power suits, thigh-high boots, dangerous glamour: these looks capture A/W 2025’s defining trendsFrom riffs on the working uniform to a mood of dangerous glamour, the A/W 2025 collections encapsulated in 12 distinctive looks and accessories
-
Valextra’s ‘collectible handbags’ see artisans from around the world put their stamp on design classics‘The Journey of Craftsmanship’ invites international artisans to reinterpret Valextra’s classic Iside, Sportami Via and Milano handbags in their own distinctive styles, from Chinese bamboo weaving to mirrored Indian embroidery
-
Louis Vuitton’s duo of Osaka exhibitions celebrate the house’s deep-rooted relationship with JapanUnfolding in Osaka this summer, ‘Visionary Journeys’ is a transporting trip into the house’s history, while ‘Yayoi Kusama – Infinity’ promises an immersion into the works of the Japanese artist, who is a longstanding Louis Vuitton collaborator
