On a scorching day in Taormina, Sicily, guests at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace would usually be worshipping the sun by the infinity pool overlooking the Ionian Sea. But on a visit in mid-June, as I peer around from my perch on a cloud-like chaise, I realise everyone else at this picturesque former convent is more concerned with the towels. The lounge liners, swathed in a cobalt-blue floral motif that looks like Mediterranean ceramic tile, are positively delectable. They’re Dolce & Gabbana and available for purchase at the hotel shop for about €559 ($656) apiece.

In fact, almost everything on the pool deck sports the same fanciful print. It’s all part of a summer resort takeover by the Italian fashion powerhouse: The umbrellas, the floats, the ceramic planters and even the napkins are D&G-branded.

This is luxury writ (very) loud — and it’s a trend playing out at hotels in almost every major summer destination, especially in Europe. Burberry tweeds deck out the Newt, a British resort in the Somerset countryside; Dior-branded buoys beckon in the water outside the Jumeirah Capri Palace off the Amalfi Coast; Missoni stripes cover the pool decks of the beach resorts Oku Ibiza and Cali Mykonos; Jacquemus’ banana-yellow sunbeds have taken over the beach club at the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer. The list goes on.

Ilaria Alber-Glanstaetten, senior director of communications for the Four Seasons resorts in Italy, says these fashion-hotel mashups are like “waking up on Christmas and finding presents under the tree.” The whole installation happened overnight, with some nine staffers and a crane employed to hoist a large D&G-patterned vase to the pool deck. Summer is, after all, the equivalent in the Mediterranean of “festive” season — the once-a-year chance to capitalise on big business, glorious vibes and free-spirited spending. By real Christmas, this region is as quiet as a ghost town.

Don’t want to pay the $1,000-a-night room rates of these resorts during peak season? No problem. Last summer, day visitors to Puente Romano Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol could get an accessibly priced taste of a luxury brand by ordering a mille-feuille with Fendi Fs dusted in cocoa powder; this year, at Rome’s Hotel de Russie, day guests can enjoy a €26 Champagne cocktail at the Aquazzura-branded garden bar. But back in Sicily, only overnight guests at the San Domenico Palace are afforded the privilege of buying a certain €1,700 silk D&G shirt from the hotel boutique.

When I hit the store myself — it’s housed in a former sacristy — I gaze up at the frescoes and consider charging a dress to my credit card. I am just barely able to resist the glamour of the moment. Instead I head outside, where, conveniently for my bank account, a D&G-branded gelato cart is serving free granita.

These partnerships hit a travel sweet spot: They’re ephemeral experiences that create a sense of urgency (“Get there now, before it’s gone!”) and encourage social media sharing (“I was there, and I can prove it!”). And they’re happening at a time when travel is thriving — but retail is not. A June report from Bain & Co. says the luxury sector is undergoing its first contraction in 15 years, but a May survey from Chase Travel shows 38 percent of cardholders plan to spend more than they did last year on globe-trotting adventures, even amid deep economic uncertainty.

“The only luxury sector that’s actually growing now is hospitality,” says Fflur Roberts, global insight manager for luxury goods at Euromonitor International. That success has spurred unprecedented expansion among top-tier hotel brands, which means everyone else needs to work hard to stay relevant. Pop-ups are a brand-safe way to do just that.

Guests are even starting to expect them, says Eric Mourkakos, owner of Cali Mykonos, which opened in 2022 and charges non-guests €100 for day passes to its Missoni resort club. Chase’s survey backs up the demand, noting that 79 percent of Generation Z travellers want to shop on their travels, and 64 percent of them seek out limited brand collabs.

“It’s an equation where everyone wins,” says Cristina Borges, who teaches a course on luxury fashion and lifestyle trends for the prestigious Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland. “Fashion brands gain easy exposure to a new, affluent audience. Hotels can offer exclusive experiences to their guests. And customers get to have fun and feel part of exclusive moments and post about them.” Plus, she says, “retailers need to meet their clients in the one place that they are still happy to spend money.”

The three-month Fendi partnership last year at Puente Romano Marbella cost about $600,000, says Borges, who was formerly its marketing director. The resort split that outlay with Fendi, then reaped $1 million in added profit — plus reams of media exposure.

Andrew Foulkes, CEO of hospitality at the Newt, says the goal of its Burberry pop-up is buzz and new guest bookings. “We are really trying to grow our reach in America, where Burberry is big,” he says. And it benefits his partner too: “It’s amazing how many people want to come and buy a Burberry bucket hat.”

Euromonitor’s Roberts says that creating a “scarcity effect” adds layers of social clout. “If you didn’t take a picture and post it, did you even go on vacation?” says Stephanie Phair, former chair of the British Fashion Council and consultant to top luxury brands.

Of course, the strategy has its pitfalls. In the worst case, a partnership can feel misaligned or can create chaos by association should, say, the fashion brand (or designer) become embroiled in some sort of controversy.

Brand dilution is another concern. “You don’t want your hotel to feel like an ad for someone else,” says Rosewood Regional Vice President Edouard Grosmangin, who’s installing a partnership with Brazilian menswear label Frescobol Carioca at its Riviera Maya outpost in Mexico. Arguing against a broader takeover, he says: “We’re keeping it very discreet, no logos anywhere. And we’ll sell their products only if it’s alongside the local artisan wares that people love in our boutiques.”

To his point, you really don’t need Dolce & Gabbana anything to feel fabulous at the San Domenico Palace, which served as the backdrop to Season 2 of HBO’s The White Lotus. But I embrace the moment and, channeling the enthusiasm of a group of American teens posing for selfies with their scoops of that D&G granita, I post a picture with my own—in a refreshing jammy fig flavour—before it melts. The image gets more likes on my Instagram than anything I’ve shared in recent memory.

By Sarah Rappaport

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