Few people embody the spirit of summer quite like Dua Lipa. Whether she’s lingering over long lunches on the Amalfi Coast, slipping into crystalline waters off the Italian Riviera or simply embracing the joy of an unhurried afternoon, the pop star has a way of making every moment feel cinematic. Her recent Italian honeymoon may have come to an end, but the feeling it evokes—a season of spontaneity, indulgence and slowing down—needn’t end with it.
The need for Euro summer has provoked a summer state of mind: an invitation to embrace pleasure a little more intentionally, to refresh old routines and reset your pace. Here, we borrow a few cues—and recommendations!—from Dua Lipa on how to make the most of the season.
Nourish the body with some luxe local food
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Perhaps there is no-one better to turn to to indulge in local cuisine than the locals themselves. Lipa knows this, and her globe-trotting adventures have led her to many a local spot. Lipa hasn’t only been indulging in Singapore, but diving headfirst into a very Euro summer: trying her hand at Italian truffles in Roma courtesy of Al Moro, to “the best chicken sandwich of [her] life” at Poulette in Copenhagen; the star has no shortage of spots to indulge no matter what city.
Cosy up in an off-the-grid gem
A true escape isn’t much of one if it’s filled with more crowds and the ding of a notification. The move this summer is to embrace a physical and digital detox—whether that means travelling abroad or finding a secluded sanctuary closer to home. The pop star opted for Hotel II Pellicano: tucked away in Porto Ercole, Grosseto, the cliffside resort originally created as a private hideaway; only to become celeb-loved by the likes of Jackie Kennedy and more. Other getaways spotted on her Italian honeymoon include Palazzo Margherita, located at the arch of Italy’s heeled boot, a lush restoration done by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.
Escape in your most fashion-forward bikini
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Feeling summer-ready entails swimwear that makes you feel comfortable, secure—and hot. Whether that may be in one-piece, tankini, or bikini form, the best swimwear embraces all three, whether that may be through colours that complement your skin tone or a cut suited to your body frame. Dua Lipa, for her part, opted for pieces from Mars the Label, beloved for its sculpting silhouettes and flattering cuts. Closer to home, a new wave of Asian swimwear labels is proving that technical craftsmanship and considered design can go hand in hand, creating pieces that move seamlessly from sun-drenched afternoons by the pool to golden-hour aperitivos.
Skip doing the literary larp, and tuck into a beach read
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Intellectual curiosity is the hottest—and most enduring—commodity. Rather than choosing a book for its cover, spend the season immersed in stories that genuinely stay with you. The singer and book club founder was recently spotted reading Kaveh Akbar’s acclaimed debut novel Martyr!, a work of magical realism centred on an Iranian American poet drawn into the orbit of a terminally ill artist whose final days become a living performance.
Other book recommendations include Kae Tempest’s Having Spent Life Seeking, and Lea Ypi’s Free, which chronicles Ypi’s memoir the fall of socialism in Albania. “Lea describes a Stalinist country so politically isolated it had fallen out not only with the West, but also with the Soviet Union and China, too. The child’s perspective makes this strangeness feel completely normal. One entire chapter is about a Coke can. In Lea’s Albania, an empty Coke can is a status symbol; something to covet,” writes Lipa for her book club, Service95.
Stay anonymous at a secluded beach
A staple of Lipa’s Italian honeymoon may just be Villa Treville, a secret beach club tucked away on the Amalfi Coast. Spotted sunbathing on their iconic honey-striped sunbeds on the cliff’s edge overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, there are few places as secretive—and simultaneously iconic—perfect for finding a moment of privacy on vacation.
