There are few wardrobe staples with the same transportive quality as one of the best linen shirts, especially a freshly laundered one. Slip one on and picture yourself whisked away to an imaginary world of endless summer holidays: Alain Delon sunbathing on the Côte d’Azur in La Piscine; Sean Connery walking across a Caribbean beach in an early Bond film. 

Yet even outside of its aura of cinematic glamor, the linen shirt is also a surprisingly practical piece in the height of the season: On vacation and drying off in a bikini after a swim? A linen shirt can serve as the perfect cover-up. Looking for an effortlessly elevated piece to pair with denim and sandals on a balmy evening? Throw on an oversized iteration—and perhaps even tie it up around the waist à la Gwyneth Paltrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley. 

In anticipation of those ever-nearing and much-anticipated summer breaks, then, allow us to introduce you to the very best linen shirts—from closet classics to craft-forward iterations and beyond—for every warm-weather occasion. Dive on in.

Covetable Classics

Master the art of simplicity with a linen shirt as effortless as it is elevated. Rest assured: from James Perse’s sky-blue button-down to The Row’s breezy, back-pleated take, the luxe, lightweight staple comes in a range of fits and hues to suit every wardrobe.  

Asceno Formentera organic-linen shirt

Loulou Studio pinstripe button down shirt

The Row Brant linen shirt

Vince oversized linen shirt

Totême drop-shoulder linen shirt

Desmond & Dempsey linen shirt

Patterned Pleasures 

Yes, the linen shirt may be closely associated with a certain tradition of old-school jet-set holidaying, but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn heads in some more contemporary interpretations too, be it Simon Miller’s striped for Mango or Frame’s tie-dye.

Massimo Alba linen graphic-print shirt

Frame x Julia Sarr Jamois tie-dye linen shirt

Acne Studios oversized floral-print linen shirt

Marni x No Vacancy Inn printed long-sleeve linen shirt

SIMONMILLER x Mango 100% linen striped t-shirt

Birds of Paradis Nico linen shirt

Artisanal Accents 

The linen shirt, as it turns out, is the perfect canvas for exceptional craftsmanship. Just look to Gabriela Hearst’s terracotta-colored shirt, complete with intricate paisley-embroidery along, or an artisanal broderie anglaise-detailed button-down, offered alongside a matching skirt, from Chloé’s capsule collaboration with the French swimwear label Eres.

Gabriela Hearst Josey embroidered linen shirt

Matteau Broderie Trim shirt

Ermanno Scervino embroidered linen shirt

Chloé x Eres Patricia linen shirt

Silvia Tcherassi Molveno embroidered linen blouse

Loro Piana Cam gathered shirt

Loretta Caponi Iole embroidered smocked blouse

Vita Kin Jodhpur embroidered linen-gauze blouse

It was 2018, and I was twenty eight, lying there in a darkened hotel room, paying a backstreet Botox doctor in cash to knock out the wrinkles on my forehead. Two weeks later this botch-job would set in, and my flat mate would look at me with worry. 

“Are you okay?” they asked. 

“Yes, why?” I replied. 

“You just look so… sad?”

I looked at my face in the mirror, my right eyelid drooped slightly and my forehead looked oddly like sliced cheese, I had done what only 85-year-old Upper East Side women are supposed to do and I’d botched my face. For weeks following I’d be told I looked “kinda gormless,” “unwell,” “very very shiny?”

And yet I didn’t feel ugly like I had in the past, despite my face looking completely different to how it should. And that’s because something like Botox, or any intervention against ugliness, or aging, or weight gain—whatever you wish to call it—is seen as more morally commendable than accepting your body as it is. 

For much of my life, I’ve been unable to put my finger on what exactly it feels like to feel ugly. But I’ve also noticed that I have been congratulated when I’m doing something to change my appearance toward a more accepted beauty standard. Whether it was being put on a strict diet by my doctor at fourteen and being applauded by a group of women at Weight Watchers every week when I lost a pound, or whether it was the remark a friend’s mum made at a wedding when she told me she was so glad I started being good to my skin. The last time she saw me, she said, I was “looking unwell.”

Attempting to change one’s own appearance is so often falsely placed on a kind of morality scale. And my feelings of ugliness, when I was perhaps less enlightened about the systems at play which police unruly bodies, have often been most vivid when I do something to my body that I have been told is “bad.” Like smoking, eating fast food, drinking too much, skipping exercise. And so I’ve made strange choices in the name of this false goodness: wild diets, impossible gym routines, binging and purging, backstreet Botox. 

 Let’s face it: Finding a swimsuit that fits and feels good is no easy feat. Whether prepping for a Mediterranean sabbatical or simply stocking your wardrobe for the summer season, identifying a one-piece wonder or trend-setting tankini that will last in your rotation is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. There are a lot of options, and until the suit is actually on your body, it’s hard to know if the fabric and fit are right. That’s why we did the sifting for you. 

Crafted by true swimsuit specialists, from Brazilian bikini connoisseurs to Australian designers seeking size-inclusive options, the below emerging brands prioritize fit, form, and function. Each line, from new-to-the-scene labels to decades-old maillot mavens, takes a specific stance on swimwear and offers something unique, such as sustainably-sourced, small-batch styles and statement-making silhouettes. Discover our edit of go-to swim brands to know and be the first to sport these suits this summer. Let’s dive in. 

This sustainable swimwear company was founded in 2018 by two true fashion veterans: Lauren Arapage, former press officer for Stella McCartney, and Joshua Shaub, former buying director for Moda Operandi. With a shared love for a laid-back California lifestyle and the sophistication of New York City, the founders married a low-impact sensibility and elevated design ethos to create swimwear that stands the test of time. Here are a few favorite suits to snag from the emerging label.  

Anemos tortoise ring one-piece swimsuit

Anemos wrap triangle top and high-cut bikini bottom

Anemos square neck bikini top and eighties high-cut bikini bottom

Anemos balconette underwire one-piece swimsuit

Anemos tortoise bandeau bikini top and bottom

Anemos K.M. cheeky one-piece swimsuit

A Britain-based brand, Aexae was founded in 2015 by Amelia Perez, an Australian-born, Brazilian Spanish designer. Perez, who has an appreciation for quality fabrics and minimalist design, launched her label with the intention of creating versatile pieces that can be worn separately or together. Each piece in her swimwear collection is a reflection of a slow and intentional design philosophy. Discover a range of silhouettes that are sure to stay in style season after season. 

Aexae underwire bralette bikini top and Tyra bottom

Aexae gathered top and bottoms

Aexae asymmetric one-piece swimsuit

Aexae Classic bikini top and mid-rise bikini bottom

Aexae underwire bralette one-piece

Nigerian designer Andrea Dumebi Iyamah founded her namesake brand in 2011. Inspired by nature, modern femininity, and her own African heritage, the designer’s statement-making suits have been spotted on Michelle Obama, Kate Hudson, and Gabrielle Union, to name a few notable trendsetters. The brand’s focus on textures and patterns is apparent in the details—the cuts, prints, and fit—of each suit. 

Andrea Iyamah Rai bikini top and bottom

Andrea Iyamah Lasa bikini top and bottoms

Andrea Iyamah Gada bikini

Andrea Iyamah Amar one piece

Andrea Iyamah Pura high rise bikini

Andrea Iyamah Antii belted one-piece swimsuit

Founded by Bulgarian sister duo, Sandra and Karla, this swim and apparel label takes a sustainable approach to design by way of small-batch production, waste minimization, and meeting material certifications. With a particular love for an ivory and black color palette, the two founders integrated their love for neutral hues and an occasional pop of color into their swimwear label. From statement-making one-pieces to one-shoulder separate sets, this brand has the essentials. 

Moré Noir Eve asymmetric bikini

Moré Noir Rachel one-piece swimsuit

Moré Noir Barbara one-piece swimsuit

Moré Noir Amelia swimsuit

Moré Noir Jessica asymmetric one-piece swimsuit

Moré Noir Jane one-piece swimsuit

Using recycled and biodegradable fabrics, Ziah seeks to empower its wearer through thoughtful silhouettes and quality textiles. Founded in 2015 by designer Erika Toscano, this swimwear label champions sustainable production practices and timeless style. From the balconette one-piece suit to the fine-strap triangle bikini, the collection’s range of suits represents classic swimwear with a twist. 

Ziah bandeau bikini top and bottoms

Ziah Neal bikini top and Rio bikini bottom

Ziah fine strap one-piece swimsuit

Ziah Dita cut-out one piece swimsuit

Ziah triangle bikini top and bottom

Ziah Bravo O-ring one piece swimsuit

Made in Milan, Masarà’s designers seek to eliminate waste, maximize comfort, and maintain a cool ease with their swimwear collection. Each suit comes in a solid color, such as Chocolate Brown or Cherry Blossom Pink, and a silhouette that’s sure to flatter, such as the Bambi Bandeau or Niki One Piece. All you have to do is pick the shape and shade you love the most, et voilà, you’re off to poolside bliss. 

Masarà Niki one-piece swimsuit

Masarà Coco bikini top and Penelope bikini bottom

Masarà Niki one-piece chocolate

Masarà Coco bikini top and bottoms

Masarà Bambi bandeau swimsuit

Masarà Coco bikini top and bottoms

A Melbourne-based brand, Form and Fold was founded in 2017 by designers Carly Warson and Stephanie Korn with the mission of providing functional swimwear for D+ women. Their swimwear silhouettes are crafted to liberate and empower by way of more fun, cutting-edge style options for women with larger cup sizes. With a wide range of silhouettes and a refined color palette, Form and Fold’s collection offers every style under the sun. 

Form + Fold D-G seersucker underwired swimsuit

Form + Fold triangle Pool top and bare Pool bottom

Form + Fold crop top and 90s rise bottoms

Form + Fold D-G underwired swimsuit

Form + Fold tri Lemon top

Form + Fold underwired bikini top and bikini brief

A Rio-based swimwear brand that celebrates vibrant colors and silhouettes that stand the test of time, this Brazilian brand uses quality lycra fabric crafted with UV50+ protection. Founded in 2015 by designer Marcella Franklin, the company was created to provide women with comfort, ease, and mobility—three things that are hard to come by in the swimwear department. 

Haight Isabel plunge-front ribbed swimsuit

Haight Tarsila one-shoulder cutout swimsuit

Haight belted crepe one-piece swimsuit

Haight Jen crepe swimsuit

Haight Manu square-neck bikini top and crepe bikini bottom

Not only is this new swimwear label environmentally responsible (their products meet sustainability certifications and are manufactured ethically), but also, the Australian brand brings a ’50s and ’60s-inspired lens to the swimwear mix. With a focus on intentionality and timelessness, Posse puts forth styles that are sure to last in your wardrobe season after season. 

Posse Finley bikini top and Brooklyn bikini bottom

Posse Emmanuel top and Luka bottoms

Posse Robbie top and Brooklyn bottoms

Named after an island in the Venetian lagoon where the brand was founded, Lido is an Italian brand. Every suit is made by Italian artisans, who use super fast-dry fabrics to create swimwear that is fashionable and functional (yes, that’s actually possible). The brand’s palette includes the perfect pink, blue, and green in addition to a timeless black, white, and brown option. Choose the shade and silhouette that suits you, and you’re set. 

Lido Tre open-back stretch swimsuit

Lido Ventiquattro ribbed one piece swimsuit

Lido ventiquattro V-neck swimsuit

A Central Saint Martins graduate, EVARAE founder Georgia Thompson founded her swimwear company with one intention: creating pieces that people feel good wearing. Launched in 2016, the brand minimizes its environmental impact by producing in small batches and using ethically-made materials. With an array of silhouettes, including belted one-pieces and halter-top bikinis, EVARAE has something in store for every style. 

Evarae Cassandra belted one piece swimsuit

Evarae Sia embellished halterneck bikini top and briefs

Evarae Cassandra belted underwired stretch-econyl swimsuit

Evarae Rizo one-piece swimsuit

Evarae Rocio paisley-print halterneck swimsuit

Evarae Cassandra belted underwired swimsuit

Cannes’s 2023 line-up was a feast of hotly anticipated awards-season behemoths and startling surprises from lesser-known names. With the 76th edition of the historic film festival now behind us, we round up the best releases to have premiered on the Croisette.

After a thrilling closing ceremony—which saw Flóra Anna Buda’s 27 win the Palme d’Or for best short film; Pham Thien An’s Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell win the Camera d’Or; Kôji Yakusho (of Wim Wenders’s Perfect Days) win best actor; Merve Dizdar (of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses) win best actress; Yuji Sakamoto (Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster) win best screenplay; Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves win the Jury Prize; Tran Anh Hung (The Pot-au-Feu) win best director; Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest win the Grand Prix; and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall win the Palme d’Or—we rounded up our own top films of the festival. See them below. 

Anatomy of a Fall

Triet’s taut and icy thriller opens at a remote, snow-covered lodge in the French Alps, where a razor-sharp German novelist, Sandra (a masterful Sandra Hüller), is living with her young son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) and somewhat frustrated husband Samuel (Samuel Theis). When the latter’s body is found, sprawled on the ground beside their home, it’s unclear whether he’s fallen to his death, jumped, or been pushed, and Sandra soon finds herself on trial for his murder. This slippery, Hitchcockian, Rubik’s Cube of a film keeps you guessing until the very end, drip-feeding you shocking revelations as the true state of Sandra and Samuel’s marriage is exposed, and Daniel begins to doubt his mother’s innocence. There’s also Swann Arlaud as Sandra’s charismatic (and seemingly lovestruck) lawyer and Antoine Reinartz as the swaggering prosecutor, as well as impeccably judged moments of levity, including the best use of 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” I’ve ever seen on film.—Radhika Seth

Banel & Adama

The only feature debut in contention for the Palme d’Or, Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s heartbreaking, painterly romance set on the parched plains of northern Senegal follows the gentle Adama (Mamadou Diallo) and his fiercely rebellious wife, Banel (Khady Mane). She is eager to escape the duties and hierarchies of their village, while he, the community’s presumed future leader by birth, is more reluctant to leave his family behind. They spend long days in the blazing sun trying to unearth an abandoned home, buried by a recent sandstorm, that they can claim as their own, but when a prolonged drought settles in and their cows begin to drop dead in the fields, fractures appear in their seemingly indestructible relationship. Every shot is composed with care, its colors almost blinding in their vibrancy, and the mood remains wonderfully woozy and surreal even as Banel’s bristling anger rises to the surface and threatens to overwhelm everything. Most impressive of all, though, is the ending, which simply took my breath away.—R.S.

La Chimera

From an Italian auteur known for mythology-soaked stories set in her homeland, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera feels like it was dredged up from beneath the earth. It’s the story of a down-and-out English archaeologist (Josh O’Connor) who uses his strange telekinetic sense to locate treasures underground, helping his fellow tombaroli, a group of gravediggers and schemers, to locate and sell them on the black market. But it is, more than anything, a poignant excavation of romance and memory, featuring The Crown actor in his most stunning role yet.—Douglas Greenwood

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

This wordily titled feature appeared in Director’s Fortnight, a Cannes sidebar known for launching talents like Sofia Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Written, directed by, and starring Joanna Arnow, it tells the bleakly funny story of a woman whose life is defined wholly by her desire to be in submissive relationships with men. For some, its dry, Brooklynite sense of humor could be jarring, but for those who catch its rhythm, it’s a deeply funny and surprisingly emotive story about what it means to know yourself to the fullest extent. It feels like the birth of a brilliant new American talent.—D.G.

How to Have Sex

British director Molly Manning Walker won the Un Certain Regard prize for this, her debut feature. Portraying the hyper-specific experience of British summer holidays, it follows a trio of 16-year-old girls letting loose on a trip to Malia, in Crete, a destination for booze, sun, and misbehaving. But for Tara (a terrifyingly great Mia McKenna-Bruce), still a virgin, the trip comes loaded with its own baggage. A charged, ecstatic, and star-making debut about the complexities of female friendship and the semantics of consent.—D.G.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Barbie has become a collective obsession and not just in fashion. Chanel and Versace have already  presented resort collections fit for Barbie lovers—or Barbie stars like Margot Robbie and Dua Lipa—and there are bound to be more coming. But long before the Barbie press tour officially began, street stylers were thinking pink (as was Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli). Scroll through these pics to find inspiration for your own leading character look  from the best Barbie-core pink fits in street style. 

Somali-American model Halima Aden is on a personal mission: to prove that modest fashion and playful fashion are not mutually exclusive terms. “In the beginning of my career, I was like, ‘Let’s just pair a black or white turtleneck with everything,’” Aden shared with Vogue last week, from a hotel room in Midtown Manhattan, where she sat on a cream-colored couch whilst clad in a colorful Richard Quinn gown with latex gloves worn underneath. There, among multiple racks of poppy runway pieces, Aden and stylist Jason Rembert strategically combed through potential looks for an approaching trip to Cannes Film Festival. On display: a visual buffet of Gucci, Prozena Schouler, Valentino, and other top brands, with pieces carefully layered with precision and delicacy. There were no throwaway black or white turtlenecks in sight. 

At this stage in her career, Aden no longer has to jerry-rig luxury fashion to fit her values and personal comfort. It’s the other way around. “I want what I wear to look intentional,” Aden said. “We’re living in a different time. And just because someone dresses more conservatively it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to take risks when it comes to fashion.” 

Those risks were well-executed throughout the film festival. The model, who recently returned to the spotlight after a three-year break, adopted a more-is-more approach for her time abroad. There’s a black-and-white Proenza Schouler suit that features voluminous, almost three-dimensional, sleeves (perfectly completed with a white hijab). A campy lime-green Valentino gown, which Aden wore to the AmFar Gala, decorated with a gazillion feathers (“I feel like Cannes is the place to wear feathers,” Rembert said.) A boxy, power-broker Vauthier suit for the airport. “I hope our red carpet looks inspires people to be more adventurous when it comes to style,” Aden said of her carefully planned Cannes style story. 

There was a blip of a scene in season four of Sex and The City where Carrie described an effortlessly cool Park Avenue mom, dressed in a sharp pink trench, as someone “for whom Barneys would always be stores, not dinosaurs.” Indeed, in the real New York, there are plenty of these inherently chic matriarchs roaming the streets, uptown and downtown, providing a portrait of aspiration and elevated taste that usually feels unattainable, as a mom or otherwise.

Retail consultant Julian Paik, an unstuffy Manhattanite, has that covetable, inherent chicness, but hers comes without any pretension or prissiness. Her personal style is nonchalant and well-heeled, every bit as deeply cool as her work through Paik Studio; her client list includes Commission, Hommegirls, and Luar. Paik’s aesthetic is a little classic and a little prep, kicked in the ass by a Tabi boot or Prada lug sole. She loves sports bras and vintage Umbro soccer shorts just as much as a Thom Browne tweed jacket. 

Fashion is a huge part of her universe, which also includes food via her small bread-baking brand called Breadrose. But when she became pregnant with her daughter Noon, now six months, Paik’s love affair with clothes began to shift slightly, as they do for all of us fashion nerds.

Being self-employed, Paik didn’t have any real maternity leave. She of course stayed close to home for the first few weeks, with Noon, her husband Robert (women’s design director at Thom Browne), and their dog Archibald. But for her, pregnancy and postpartum dressing was about blending even more pragmatism into her wardrobe while still adhering to the pieces and designers that sparked joy. 

Paik exemplifies that delicate balance between Barneys and Barney, between loving fashion and loving motherhood (dinos, diapers, and all), and below, she delves into the why and how. 

“This is the Plein Circus,” Philipp Plein said with his baby son Rocket in his arms. We were just minutes away from the staging of a 15-look resort collection at his Cannes villa on the final evening of the annual Film Festival.

Plumes of multicolor flowers were woven into the green foliage and guests walked under archways replete with Hollywood lights and circus-themed cut-out letters. A glitter rainbow runway snaked through the pools and fountains of the villa, which he calls La Jungle du Roi. The clothes fit right in; in fact, Plein transported his designers from the atelier to his guest house to work on the collection.

“I’m a very colorful guy,” he said, describing the lineup as “happy, dressy, and costumey,” a response to the post-pandemic demand for evening wear and cocktail dresses. Lighter and a little more zippy than the moody, rock glamour of his recent fall collection, it nonetheless delivered on the designer’s proudly anti-minimalist promise.

Models in jester-inspired makeup wore outfits designed to dance in, like a barely-there, jacket-and-skirt suit in fuchsia with rhinestone pinstripe detailing and a tangerine ruched minidresses with shoulder pads paired with cowboy boots in the same coruscating shade. Some dresses looked 1970s in silhouette, a feather-light paisley-print sheer number in pastel and cerulean blue and another with the pattern studded entirely in pink and lilac diamantes, among them. Then, we got what felt like the trademark Plein hedonism: a maxi dress in neon tie-dye, replete with acid-house smileys.

Plein led the final march, baby Rocket in arm, as Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine” played and the models winked and vamped. Even a runway crasher, who posed for the audience’s iPhone cameras before being swiftly removed, couldn’t break his smile.

This BFA Fashion Class at Parsons didn’t have it easy, dealing with both COVID lockdowns and a strike by adjunct faculty. It forced them to combine their creative pursuits with real-life problem solving. Their roads may have been rocky, but these students are heading into the industry without an ivory-tower perspective. Understanding that fashion is a difficult business to break into can only be a plus.

With 244 enrollees, it’s difficult to make generalizations about the class, but what stands out overall is the hands-on physicality of much of the work, be that expressed through comforting pillow-like textures, soft armor, exoskeletons, or sculptural elements. Siloed by the pandemic, what these grads missed out on in terms of collegiality, they seem to have replaced with materiality, connecting with and manipulating their materials intensely. In most cases students seemed to be searching not for perfection or store-floor readiness, but for textural, distressed clothes and deconstructions that mirror an overall sense of uncertainty.

Reviewing the work and mission statements, I noticed the beginning of a shift toward storytelling. While many students mined their childhoods, familial relationships, and origins, using fashion as autobiography or therapy, they seem slightly less susceptible to the allure of the past than preceding classes. A number of collections referenced or retold tales from mythology, lore, and religion. Space, once the final frontier, and technology, which is opening heretofore unknown and unimaginable realities, were the subjects of other collections, whereas a number of additional lineups concentrated on the local and everyday, either thematically or through use of found objects.

This spring marked a return to a catwalk format at the New School and elsewhere. Marie Genevieve Cyr, director of the BFA Fashion program, reports that many responded positively to the runway as “a kind of celebration of the physical,” after so many years focused on the digital presentation of design. Rather than showcase work selected by a jury, all members of the class were invited to present one look from their graduate offerings. Choosing a runway format, says Cyr, was “really important; we need[ed] to do that because [the students] deserve it, they went through so much.”