Zimmermann channelled Riviera glamour for its Antibes takeover, heralding the start of summer

The waterside commune of Antibes has long been synonymous with the free-spirited glamour of the French Riviera. A 30-or-so-minute drive westwards from Cannes, the resort town – named after the Ancient Greek port, Antopolis – has for over a century been a gathering spot for those seeking artistic enlightenment or sun-soaked hedonism, from Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso, who both frequented the locale in the 1920s, to the phalanx of movie stars who still take over its palatial hotels and private residences each summer.

It was in this spirit that Australian fashion brand Zimmermann – best known for its romantically inclined resort-wear, adopted since the 1990s by those who moor their yachts each year on the Côte d’Azur and other such summertime hotspots – gathered a notable coterie of guests of its own to celebrate the arrival of the summer season, including musicians Suki Waterhouse and Jessie Ware, actors Jodi Turner Smith, Eiza González, Leila George and Poppy Delevigne, and model Abby Champion, as well as numerous friends of the house, several of whom have previously travelled on other such Zimmermann retreats (in past years, these have included Mykonos, St Barths and St Tropez).

The base for proceedings was the Juan-les-Pins’ Cap d’Antibes Beach Hotel – a sleek, modernist beachside retreat recently renovated by Belgian architect Bernard Dubois – where Zimmermann had opened a colourful pop-up summer shop on its serene waterside terrace (it leads to the hotel’s private beach, recognisable for its rows of pink-hued loungers and parasols). On night one, in the golden Mediterranean light of early evening, guests were transported by boat around the bay for what founders Nicky and Simone Zimmermann called an evening of ‘colour, light and sound’, playing out at a one-night-only beach club heralded by a sail-like installation on the water’s edge.

Beginning with cocktails (including dirty and cucumber martinis, alongside the requisite glasses of champagne), guests then gathered for an intimate sunset acoustic performance by Suki Waterhouse, who, alongside working as an actor and model, has released two full-length albums: I Can't Let Go (2022) and Memoir of a Sparklemuffin (2024). Afterwards, a candlelit dinner unfolded amid a dramatic tableau, whereby enormous red-hued curtains had been erected, tumbling from the harbour wall across the waterside platform, where a single dining table ran along the water’s edge. Food was prepared by French-born, Sydney-based chef Guillaume Brahimi, with a delicate riff on the pavlova for dessert playfully nodding towards Zimmermann’s Australian roots.

Proceedings continued on day two, where celebrations decamped to Villa Dorane, a sprawling Cap D’Antibes estate owned by art collector and photographer Jean Pigozzi, with interiors by Ettore Sottsass (Pigozzi documented the legendary parties held at the villa over the years in a Rizzoli-published book Pool Party: Sixty Years at the World's Most Famous Pool). Beginning with lunch on the villa’s shaded lawns, soundtracked by a Zimmermann vinyl listening bar, guests migrated down towards the famous kidney-shaped pool for an afternoon in the sunshine, accompanied by music from DJ Mimi Xu, who also provides the soundtracks for Zimmermann’s runway shows (custom speakers by Atlas Harmonic ensured full-volume for the ensuing dancing).

Wearing pieces from the house’s High Summer 2026 collection – a capsule ‘designed for the sun-drenched days of an endless holiday’ – the gathering then meandered back to Cap d’Antibes Beach Hotel, where, in the fading evening light, guests took one last chance to bathe in the Antibes waters, before enveloping themselves in colourful Zimmermann beach towels and lounging around the circular bar, where the party (in true Zimmermann style) stretched long into the night.

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