Discover this year’s most stylish collections and must-wear brands, selected by the editors at Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur.
BEST READY-TO-WEAR TAILORING: ALEXANDER KRAFT MONTE CARLO
Alexander Kraft—CEO and owner of Sotheby’s International and Realty France- Monaco—has applied his creative credentials to gentlemanly lifestyle accoutrements such as cocktails (check out his pre-mixed take on the negroni, the Kraftoni, made with Comte de Grasse’s 44N Gin) and cigars from the Dominican Republic. He’s also a style icon with close to 500,000 Instagram followers, who launched his own line of clothing, Alexander Kraft Monte Carlo, in the summer of 2020. Befitting Kraft’s own sartorial niche, the garments—which are crafted in small, family-owned workshops in Puglia using cloths by Vitale Barberis Canonico, Loro Piana and Drago—are all about timeless, gentlemanly elegance. “An ethical antidote to fast fashion, with sartorial details and a bespoke feel,” as he puts it.
The collection offers a wealth of superior outerwear (such as the camel wool/cashmere Bridge coat), with double-breasted Portofino jackets and waistcoats, and jeans that redefine the word also in the mix. Riviera dwellers, meanwhile—at this time of year in particular—should check out, for starters, the contemporary Gurkha trousers, long-sleeved polos in lightweight cotton and suede loafers (the shoes are all handmade in Portugal by a traditional cobbler), all of which pack Kraft’s own innate sprezzatura in abundance. The garments display the same quality, in terms of materials and construction, as those by the most elevated menswear brands on the planet, but at a fraction of the price.
“My collection was born out of the wish to make my personal style accessible to a larger audience without compromising on quality,” says Kraft, whose own style gurus include Gianni Agnelli, David Niven and Cary Grant, and whose idiosyncratic sartorial customs (such as wearing white trousers to black-tie dinners) are now making their way onto highly established designers’ mood boards.
BEST BEACHWEAR: ORLEBAR BROWN SUMMER 2025 RANGE
In 2005, Orlebar Brown founder Adam Brown—in Rajasthan celebrating a friend’s 40th birthday—noticed that his fellow revellers were all wearing either briefs, boardshorts or baggy boxer-short-style swimwear, and had to get changed in order to look respectable for lunch. A gap in the menswear canon, he concluded, was tailored beach-to-bar shorts which would double up as swimmers.
Almost two decades on from the founding of the company that sprang from this epiphany, visitors to the new Monte- Carlo boutique of the brand will be regaled by a whole range of menswear, of the type one could wear in any of the Riviera’s most salubrious beach clubs and draw admiring gazes—from shirts to trousers via suits, jackets, outwear, knitwear, polos, trainers, slip-ons, caps and sunglasses. Swim shorts, meanwhile, remain at the core of Orlebar Brown’s output, with pairs of the original “Bulldog” shorts Brown himself came up with earlier this century—based on the cut of traditional tailored trousers— comprising 60 pattern elements and featuring signature adjustable side fasteners for comfort and silhouette. And they’re now available in super-soft silk blended fabric, woven in France.
Take a browse when you get a chance: you’ll soon discern why this brand—as well as being favoured by the likes of Daniel Craig, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman and Tom Cruise—has ramped up the style factor in every season of The White Lotus to date.
BEST NAUTICAL APPAREL: BRUNELLO CUCINELLI’S HIGH SUMMER 2025 CAPSULE
Loro Piana isn’t the only Italian brand deserving plaudits for its innovative use of rarefied materials, as demonstrated by this exceptional capsule from the label’s Solomeo-based compatriots—one which begs to be worn on an island-hopping jaunt in the Mediterranean aboard the kind of luxury sailing yachts currently riding the crest of the experiential travel zeitgeist.
Jacquard knits, twisted linens and ribbed cotton fabrics are all in the mix. Elsewhere, abacá—a water resistant fibre from the Philippines—has been blended with virgin wool and silk, resulting in a featherlight denim feel for the collection’s tailoring. The shawl collared, cotton and linen half-English rib chiné cardigan, and the water-resistant techno cotton gabardine jacket with leather inserts and detachable hood, also deserve a special nod, as do the line’s accessories: notably the washed suede espadrilles, the woven leather belts and a canvas drawstring backpack with buffalo leather embellishments.
BEST STYLE EXHIBITION: IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW: LORO PIANA’S QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE
Curated by fashion and museology professor Judith Clark, this immersive celebration of Loro Piana’s centenary was a bucket-list extravaganza, held this spring and spanning over 1,000 m² across three galleries and 15 rooms at Shanghai’s Museum of Art Pudong.
As well as artworks from the Sergio and Luisa Loro Piana Collection and the Pinacoteca di Varallo, visitors were surrounded by eye-popping exhibits (think crocheted balloon-shaped ballgowns, American sculptor Sheila Hicks’s braided textile wheel, and a giant microscope magnifying Baby Cashmere 35,000 times), as well as immersive cinematographic installations and “The Landscapes”: vivid tableaux depicting various regions—the Andes, China, New Zealand— where rare fibres such as cashmere and vicuña are sourced.
China played host to the exhibition due to Loro Piana’s long-standing bond with its community of goat-herders, who have provided its cashmere material since the 1960s. But we’re praying that organisers will go to the considerable trouble of setting up “If You Know, You Know” closer to, or in, its native Italy, so we can make a spontaneous call to repeat the whole experience.
BEST REFINED LEISUREWEAR: CANALI NUVOLA
Sometimes, the Italian phrase sprezzatura is applied to men who have manifestly put a huge amount of industry into a usually flamboyant ensemble. The infamous Pitti Uomo Peacocks, who congregate at the Florence sartorial trade show twice annually, spring to mind. Family-run brand Canali offers the antidote to this rather self-conscious, attention-seeking approach to dressing. And the Italian brand’s new Nuvola collection—named after the native word for “cloud” —is arguably its strongest assertion to date that true gentlemanly elegance doesn’t shout.
Jackets come deconstructed in the Neapolitan tradition, and in ultra-fine suede and featherlight nylon; knitted polos and crew necks are made from extra-fine wool-silk blends; while the knitted trainers with subtle embroidered detailing ensure the wearer nails the refined-casual dichotomy— literally—from the ground up. Canali claims that each Nuvola piece “offers unparalleled comfort without compromising structure”—and even the most demanding sartorialists, trying on this clothing for the first time, will have no quarrel with that.
BEST ADVENTURE WEAR: STEFANO RICCI, AUTUMN/WINTER 2025-26 COLLECTION
Literally a case of a brand scaling new heights, the family-owned, Fiesole-based maison’s latest collection was inspired by the history of the Inca, and was thus accompanied by a striking campaign which took place on the verdant contours of Peru’s loftier landscapes.
Among the 67 pieces—many fashioned from “royal” vicuña wool, so called as it was once reserved for Inca nobility—are wool sports trousers, a hooded blouson in cotton and cashmere with Orylag lining, a jersey-lined parka with down-filled interior, and a white puffer jacket whose octagonal detailing symbolises the Stefano Ricci Maison: all pieces that would stand up to the elements during an ambitious hike in the Andes. Elsewhere, many of the collection’s colours are inspired by this extreme locale: scarlet hues mirroring those of the cochineal red once derived from a crushed cactus insect; indigo from indigofera leaves; the verdant hues of the forests surrounding Machu Picchu; the yellow of vicuña fleece, and so on.
The series also includes plenty of exceptional fare more suited to urban, indoor milieus —tailored pieces fashioned from premium natural fibres, and blue and burgundy dinner suits, for example—but it’s the elementsbattling pieces on offer here that truly broaden the globe-trotting maison’s repertoire.
BEST EYEWEAR: HÉRITAGE BY JACQUES MARIE MAGE
For the uninitiated, LA eyewear brand Jacques Marie Mage was founded in 2014 by French expat Jérôme Mage, a former designer for brands including Arnette and SPY Optic. His mission? To make sunglasses as extravagant, as transformative of the wearer’s look, as is humanly possible. He took that quest a step further in April, with the launch of the Héritage collection: a limited-edition reimagining of seven existing styles (Dealan, Molino, Fellini, Pasolini, Vendome, Billionaire and Evans) using water buffalo horn sourced from India.
The artisanship behind each hand-assembled pair is awe-inspiring. Due to the thickness of horn, the shape and curvature of each frame part needs to be achieved via milling, rather than heating and bending; hand-polishing must take place at multiple stages to retain the horn’s natural look and feel; the human touch is further called upon to ensure the 18k gold pins and hinges account for the unique tolerances of each frame; the lenses, too—produced using a material usually employed for military helicopters, for impact resistance—have to be cut and set individually. The results, we’re sure you’ll agree, will draw second glances even on the gilded boulevards of Tinseltown.
BEST WOMEN’S SUITING: CHANEL’S AUTUMN/WINTER 2025-2026 COLLECTION
Paris’s Grand Palais, featuring a gargantuan black steel ribbon snaked around a theatrical setting designed by Willo Perron, played host in March as Chanel displayed its final collection before Matthieu Blazy begins his tenure as artistic director of fashion activities. With so many statement concepts on display— white and pink tweed paired with unusually long trousers; a voluminous poplin shirt reaching down to the ankles; a cape with jacket cuffs; chiffon jeans; silk embroidered to resemble tweed; a hooded parka in black organza; trompe-l’oeil effects achieved with intricate layering; house signatures such as bows, ribbons, pearls and blooms aplenty—there was no lack of bravado, despite the temporary lack of a creative figurehead.
And it’s likely that Coco Chanel herself—who introduced her first two-piece in the 1920s, inspired by sportswear, as well as the suits of her beau the Duke of Westminster—would perhaps have had the most feedback to give about the show’s breathtaking tweed tailored suits. Whatever her reaction might have been, Naomi Campbell and Jessica Alba were among those cheering from the side at the show’s finale.
BEST HAUTE COUTURE: ELIE SAAB SPRING/SUMMER 2025
“I wanted to express the happiness that peace has brought and the desire to celebrate beauty once again. Fashion can convey a powerful message of positivity, hope and humanity.” The words of Elie Saab—the Beirut-born designer applying his artisanal flair in workshops in Lebanon, Paris and Milan— highlight why his Spring/ Summer 2025 collection radiates such a vivid sense of joie de vivre.
The intricate floral appliqués, embroidery and lace gracing the shawls, capes and boleros on display at Paris Couture Week in January, as well as feathered petals and crystal embellishments on gowns in pink and absinthe, reminded onlookers of Saab’s former life as a creator of bridal couture. A black mermaid gown bearing a flower-shaped collar was perhaps the focal point of a show given extra zest by recent celebrations for the label’s 45th anniversary in Riyadh, attended by celebrity brand aficionados including Céline Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry.
BEST RUNWAY THEME: LOUIS VUITTON AUTUMN-WINTER 2025
Serious students of the brand may know the story already: in 1835, Louis Vuitton, aged 13, walked 400 km north-east from Anchay to Paris, where he became an apprentice box maker and packer. His skills fully honed, he invented the flat, stackable travel chests that would become his brand’s stock in trade, conceived for space-efficient storage in ships’ holds—and railway baggage cars. So there was an element of historical homage when it came to the locomotive theme of Nicolas Ghesquière’s latest collection show, staged in March inside the enchanting L’Étoile du Nord (which resides next to Paris’s Gare du Nord train station).
To the distant rumble of trains (drowned out pre-show by Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europe Express”), models hurried along a runway which wound around the Beaux-Arts-style atrium space, along grand balconies and past back-lit windows that gave shadowy drama to their silhouettes, as they emulated passengers darting between destinations. Highlights of the collection were many, including oversized coats in leather and fur, a futuristic translucent trench, a leather bag inspired by the platform lamps of yesteryear,and polished leather boots whose metallic trim offered hints of the hardware found in train carriages.
“[The collection] pulls into a station where all emotions converge,” wrote Ghesquière in his show notes. “Impatience with the ticking of the clock. At the end of the same platform is the hopefulness of love or the melancholy of separation. The enthusiasm of departure or the comfort of return. The euphoria of discovery.”
BEST PRINTED FABRICS: DIOR’S DIORIVIERA COLLECTION
This collection’s story really begins in the mid-18th century and the “Toile de Jouy”—fabrics bearing complex patterns, usually depicting pastoral scenes— produced in Jouy-en- Josas, a commune in the southwestern outer reaches of Paris. Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s creative director since 2016, introduced the concept to the maison’s design language in the form of “Toile de Jouy Sauvage”—a wilder, ultraelaborate take, as the name implies—and has applied it in abundance to a radiant new line-up replete with entrancing shades of turquoise and pink. A new iteration has also been introduced in the form of Toile de Jouy Palms, depicting lush jungle scenes.
Silk dresses, skirts, blouses and other garments—as well as sarongs, ponchos, tote bags and household goods—have all been graced with these elegant new motifs, while the Dioriviera series also spotlights shoes, sandals and trainers (the latter in white satin) replete with whimsical, summery panache.
BEST RETAIL OPENING: MIU MIU, NEW BOND STREET, LONDON
The word “store” is a little reductive when describing Miu Miu’s new London flagship. Miuccia Prada, head designer at Prada and the founder of its subsidiary Miu Miu (which is named after her childhood nickname), refers to the space as a hub for “cultural exchange, conversation and the gathering of a spirited and intelligent, thoughtful community”.
Perusing the premises, the first design flourish the keen-eyed visitor will notice is the ground floor’s distinctive industrial metal flooring, which juxtaposes elegantly with Miu Miu’s signature pale blue on the walls, interrupted here and there with flashes of bright yellow and green. Product wise, bags, shoes and eyewear dominate ground level while upstairs—where that metal flooring makes way for wooden parquet and a generous high-pile rug—readyto- wear garments sit alongside a new, limitededition upcycled collaboration with Catherine Martin, the Australian film costume designer who collaborated with Miuccia Prada on Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 version of The Great Gatsby.
The space’s design ethos will set the tone for other global openings, for a brand which is clearly getting things right: it reported retail sales rises of 93 percent in 2024.
