Thought You Couldn’t Wear This Fabric In Hot Weather? Think Again…

Vitamin D is potent. Just a hint of sun is all it takes for even the most resolute jeans-and-tee wearers among us to dive head-first into frills and florals, pastels and pompoms.

But where do you go if you want something special but have tastes that are more sleek than sweet? You turn to summer satin. Yes, you may read that as an oxymoron but just hang on a second.

Seen on the catwalks at Bottega Veneta, Burberry and Balenciaga summer satin is glamorous, glossy and thoroughly modern. It’s more grown up than lace; less garish than sequins. Just look at Nicole Kidman in a hot pink Olivier Theyskens dress at the Taormina Film Festival last week, and Kate Moss rocking a languid silver shirt at the Dior menswear show. Or see Rihanna, sensational in a little satin dress that was big on sass for the New York launch of Fenty. ‘She made it look easy,’ says Laure Heriard Dubreil, founder and creative director of The Webster, where Riri unveiled the second drop.

Indeed, ease is all part of the appeal. Although the wedding guest charm is obvious, don’t think of summer satin as only an invite-required or after dark option; it’s also a gift for daytime. ‘I’m wearing one of our slip dresses in our 40 degree showroom today,’ says Charlotte de Geyter of Bernadette, whose floral satin dresses are fast becoming a fashion favourite. ‘Our bias-cut satin dresses drape loosely around the body, it feels like you aren’t wearing anything at all’. That's literally the stuff heatwave dreams are made of.

To give summer satin daytime momentum opt for mannish, oversized silhouettes like Zendaya in her roomy Peter Do PJ set – a clever choice, the ex-Céline designer's own brand is already hot property among fashion insiders. ‘Satin feels really modern when you wear it with more casual fabrics like cotton,’ says the designer Catherine Quin. ‘To me, it’s the ideal time to pair a fluid satin skirt with an oversized T-shirt.’ And don’t be afraid of colour. ‘We love satin in bold saturated brights in oversized silhouettes; the fabric takes colour so well,’ says Net-A-Porter’s global fashion director Elizabeth von der Goltz, who’s currently crushing on Sies Marjan’s fuchsia Bermudas.

There is one non-negotiable, however; a good steamer is essential.

SHOP: The Best Summer Satin