How to wear black in summer
Wallpaper* journeys to Morocco’s Aman resort to make a case for wearing black this summer with S/S 2024’s most darkly dramatic looks
![Model wears black in summer in Moroccan hotel](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ddwm8wwea9A2PPMVkYzGR4-415-80.jpg)
Common wisdom says that wearing black in summer is a sartorial no-go, the light-and-heat absorbing hue a recipe for torrid and uncomfortable afternoons in the sun. Though, as the many year-round aficionados of the colour will attest, such is black’s timelessness – it is arguably the shade most synonymous with style and taste – that even when it comes to the summer months, it’s never too hot to wear black.
Taken from the June 2024 The Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, photographer Valentin Hennequin and Wallpaper* fashion and creative director Jason Hughes take a trip to Amanjena – the Moroccan outpost of the Aman hotel group – with Estonian model Katlin Aas and a handful of the S/S 2024 season’s most dramatic looks to make a case for summer blacks.
A case for wearing black in summer
Dress, £1,075, by Rick Owens, available from Farfetch. Shoes, £710, by Jacquemus. Cuff, £318, by Alexis Bittar
With it, rules for embracing black in the heat of summer: keep layers diaphanous and fluid, like the sinuous line of Rick Owen’s gently ruched asymmetric evening gown, or Givenchy’s floating, sheer organza layers. When it comes to covering up, less is more: look for cutaway silhouettes (like Louis Vuitton’s open-back blouse) and plunging necklines (à la Alexandre Vauthier), or opt for black swimwear, arguably the simplest way to wear black in summer (our choice: a classic black bikini from Chanel). As is a simple black sweater in the lightest of cashmere – like that from Italian knitwear producer Luca Faloni – made for the onset of coolness on a summer evening (or overly air-conditioned hotel rooms and airline cabins).
Swimsuit, £210, by Vilebrequin. Bangles, from £479, by Alexis Bittar
And, when it comes to the evening, black remains the choice for taking to the resort bar in dramatic style, whether in a richly adorned dress from Prada – its glimmering surface replete with metal eyelets for a chic take on ventilation – or a body-clinging body-suit from British designer Supriya Lele, whose S/S 2024 collection included dissolving mini dresses and swimwear cut in the designer’s gently subversive style. Or, indeed, the sculptural silhouette of a stomach-bearing set from Jacquemus – a French label well-versed in seductive summer style.
Complete the look with bold stacks of bangles, like those from New York designer Alexis Bittar – their oversized and dramatic forms the balm to break up otherwise consuming expanses of black – or Goossens’ choker-like golden chains. And, if all else fails, simply resort to the nearest shade, sunglasses on, and channel your inner femme fatale.
Top, £3,300; skirt, £1,690, both by Louis Vuitton. Earrings, £167, by Alexis Bittar
Jacket; skirt, both price on request; shoes, £710, all by Jacquemus
Dress, €1,978, by Alexandre Vauthier. Earrings, £167, by Alexis Bittar
Jumper, £395, by Luca Faloni. Underwear, £770, by Dior. Earrings, £167, by Alexis Bittar
Dress, €3,290, by Givenchy. Earrings, £167, by Alexis Bittar
Swimming top, £520; swimming trunks, £430, both by Chanel
Bodysuit, £340; leggings, £450, both by Supriya Lele. Shoes, £710, by Jacquemus. Earrings, £318; bangles, from £479, all by Alexis Bittar. Bangles, from £219, by Dinosaur Designs
Dress, £9,000, by Prada
Model: Katlin Aas at Supreme Management. Casting: Ikki Casting at WSM. Hair: Noelia Corral at Blend Management using Kevin Murphy Spain. Make-up: Eny Whitehead at Wise & Talented using Chanel Beauty. Photography assistant: Pietro Lazzaris. Fashion assistant: Lucy Proctor.
A version of this article appears in the June 2024 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.
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Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.
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