Italian Summer Style 2026: 11 UK Wardrobe Updates Editors Are Borrowing This Season

Every May, something predictable happens in British fashion. The first warm weekend hits, the linen shirts come out of the wardrobe, and half the high street starts quietly remerchandising around one idea: Italian summer style. It is the look UK editors borrow more openly than any other – relaxed, considered, slightly sun-bleached, never trying too hard – and for summer 2026 it has been refined into something even cleaner than last year’s coastal-grandma moment. Less costume, more capsule. The good news is that almost all of it translates to British weather with very little rework.

Below: the eleven wardrobe updates UK fashion editors are quietly buying into this season, what is actually in the shops, and how to make the look feel like yours rather than a Pinterest board on holiday.

Why Italian summer style is the look UK editors keep coming back to

Italian summer style sits in the sweet spot between effortless and intentional. It is not athleisure on holiday and it is not full Riviera costume either. A well-cut linen shirt, a tailored short in a neutral, a clean sandal and one well-judged accessory – that is the formula, and it works whether you are at a wedding in Puglia or a beer garden in Bermondsey. The Guardian’s fashion desk has called it "the most replicable summer look on the high street" for three years running, and the British high street has responded in kind. M&S, COS, Arket, Sezane and Massimo Dutti have all leaned heavily into linen tailoring, terracotta and butter-yellow colour stories, and raffia accessories this season.

The other reason it persists: it forgives the British climate. Italian summer style is built around layers that breathe, fabrics that crumple gracefully, and pieces that look better when they are not perfectly pressed. That suits a country that can deliver four seasons in a Tuesday.

The 11 wardrobe updates worth borrowing this summer

1. A linen co-ord set

The single most-borrowed piece of italian summer style for 2026 is the matching linen set – a relaxed waistcoat or shirt with wide-leg trousers in the same butter, sand, olive or chocolate tone. Worn together it reads tailored, worn apart it is two separates that earn their keep all summer. Arket’s washed linen suiting, COS’s barrel-leg linen trouser and Massimo Dutti’s linen waistcoats are all selling through fast. Size up rather than down – the look hinges on a fluid silhouette, not a tight one.

2. The Cuban collar shirt

The open-collar, boxy-cut camp shirt is the Italian holiday shirt that has finally crossed over into British weekend wear. It works untucked over swim shorts, half-tucked into linen trousers, or layered over a white tee. We’ve covered why it is summer’s smartest holiday buy in our Cuban collar shirt guide; the short version is buy it in a neutral first, then a print.

3. Tailored bermuda shorts

Knee-length, sharply tailored, in a neutral – this is the short that has replaced the chino short for editors this season. The trick is to treat it like a trouser rather than a beach short: pair with a fitted T-shirt, a leather sandal and a structured bag, and the proportions read intentional rather than schoolboy. Avoid anything baggier than mid-thigh or shorter than just-above-knee; the Italian version is precise.

4. Cropped or capri trousers

The slim, ankle-grazing trouser – what used to be called a capri – is back, and it is one of the most flattering shapes to come out of the Milan SS26 shows. Worn with a flat sandal and a fitted knit it is pure 1960s Capri; worn with a loafer and a poplin shirt it is Milanese office. Anywhere between cigarette-slim and gently tapered works; avoid anything too clingy at the calf.

5. A white poplin shirt, worn loose

Not the work shirt, not the festival shirt – the proper Italian white shirt is oversized, crisp, slightly transparent, and worn with the sleeves rolled and at least one button more undone than feels sensible. Layer over a cami in the evening, tie at the waist over a swimsuit at lunch, tuck into a linen trouser for dinner. One good one will out-earn three trend pieces.

6. The silk scarf, used three ways

Around the strap of your bag, knotted at the throat, tied into your hair – the silk square is the accessory editors are using to make a high street outfit look considered. The trick is to treat it as a finishing tool rather than a focal point. Our silk scarf outfits guide walks through the seven ways UK style editors are wearing it this summer; the bag-handle wrap is the easiest entry point.

7. A raffia bag

The raffia tote, basket or shoulder bag is the bag of the season – structured rather than slouchy, woven tight enough to look like a piece of design rather than a beach prop. Look at Sezane, Massimo Dutti, COS and Arket for the cleanest versions; for a punchier price, Mango and Zara both have credible takes this year. Skip anything with shells, tassels or a holiday-shop feel.

8. A slip-on flat sandal

Fisherman sandals, leather slides, mule sandals and clean two-strap flats are the four shapes doing the heavy lifting this summer. The unifying brief: tan, brown or black leather, low to flat, no embellishment. They quietly anchor every other Italian-leaning piece and travel well from city to coast. Anything chunkier or sportier breaks the line.

9. Gold hoops and one chunky chain

Italian summer style is generous with gold and disciplined about everything else. Hoops at the ear – thin, medium, large, whatever suits – and one substantial chain at the neck or wrist is enough. Layering more than that starts to read holiday-market. Astrid & Miyu, Daisy London, Missoma and Otiumberg cover most price points on the high street; charity-shop and vintage gold both work brilliantly here.

10. Tomato red as the single colour pop

If the base is butter, sand, olive and chocolate, the colour that lifts it all season is tomato red. A red bag, a red sandal, a red lip – one piece, not three. We wrote about the rise of tomato red as summer’s power colour earlier this month; in the Italian context it works best as the accessory, not the outfit. The other shades worth considering for an accent: lemon, pistachio and an unexpected hit of navy.

11. Oversized sunglasses

The 1970s-leaning oval frame in tortoiseshell, amber or honey is the sunglass shape doing most of the lifting in the Italian editorial pictures this year. They flatter most face shapes, they age well, and they cost less than the trend-led micro-frames that need replacing every summer. Le Specs, Linda Farrow Outlet and Cubitts cover the editorial end; the high street has caught up convincingly.

The colour story holding it all together

Across the Milan SS26 shows the colour palette that emerged was tighter than last year: butter yellow, sand, terracotta, olive, navy and crisp white as the base, with tomato red and lemon as the lift colours. Black appeared more than expected, usually as the grounding piece of an otherwise warm outfit. British Vogue’s fashion team has flagged this palette as the one to lean into for summer dressing in the UK precisely because it photographs well under our flat northern light, which is not always the case with the high-summer brights that work in Italy.

Practical translation: build the wardrobe around two neutrals – a warm one (butter, sand) and a cool one (white, navy) – and add a single accent colour. That is the engine of italian summer style, and it is the reason the same person can wear what looks like the same outfit for a fortnight and never look repetitive.

How to translate Italian summer style for the UK climate

The version of Italian summer style that actually works in Britain has a few small adjustments. Layer a fine merino crew or a long-sleeve poplin under the linen waistcoat for unreliable mornings. Swap the leather sandal for a tan loafer or a clean white trainer on commuting days; the silhouette still reads. Carry the linen blazer rather than wear it for the temperature swings. And accept that linen will crumple – the Italian rule is that creased linen is correctly worn linen, not badly cared-for linen.

For the trickier weeks, look to our linen trousers guide for the eight pairs worth buying for a British summer, and keep one transitional layer (a lightweight cardigan, a Breton tee, a knitted polo) in the bag for evenings that turn. The point of the look is ease, not authenticity.

What to buy first if you are starting from scratch

If you are building this wardrobe up from very little, the order that gives you the fastest return is: linen trouser, white poplin shirt, slip-on leather sandal, raffia bag, silk scarf, tomato-red accessory. Six pieces, four neutrals and two accents, all interchangeable. Add the co-ord, the bermuda short and the cropped trouser as separates over the following weeks rather than all at once – it spreads the spend and lets you see what you actually reach for.

If you are refining an existing summer wardrobe, the single highest-impact swap is usually footwear. Replacing trainers and slider sandals with a clean tan or brown leather flat does more to shift an outfit toward italian summer style than any new top will.

A note on price

This look does not need to be expensive. The British high street has done a particularly good job of it this season – COS, Arket, Mango, M&S Collection, Sezane and Massimo Dutti are all credible at sub-£100 for the hero pieces, with vintage and resale filling in the gold jewellery and silk scarves at a fraction of new prices. The pieces worth spending properly on are the ones you’ll wear every day: the linen trouser, the white shirt, the leather sandal. Everything else can be high street with very little compromise.

Where on the spectrum do you sit – building from scratch this summer, or refining the wardrobe you already have? Tell us in the comments which of the eleven pieces feels most worth borrowing, and which already feels too far from your real life to bother with.