From Capri With Love: Fashion, Lifestyle and Sustainability Experts Share Precious Advice

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While celebrating with Zimmermann the opening of the brand’s first store in Capri, three eminent guests sat down with WWD to share their five tips for…

THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY WARDROBE

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“I think there are five essentials that every woman needs to have with her on a summer vacation,” said Roopal Patel, Saks Fifth Avenue fashion director.

1. Obviously if you are going to a beach holiday you need to find the perfect bikini, or bathing suit that works for you. I always like carrying a neutral bathing suit and then a printed bathing suit.

2. It’s great to have one versatile dress that you can wear day to evening, you can wear to the beach, to the beach club, at lunch, but also to go out at night. For example, a printed dress from Zimmermann is perfect, because they have so many great prints to choose from.

3. Definitely you need flats, I think everyone is always stressed about packing high heels on vacation and honestly it is not that chic sometimes. I really love Aquazzura flats, they do a great assortment of metallic whether it’s gold, or silver, they work well with everything, and again day to night.

4. For every holiday you need the perfect beach tote. You need like a great straw bag that you can take around with you everywhere and I think Loewe has some of the bests, with the straw, the little pop of color.

5. And then, I think it’s great to have some beach jewelry. I like to have things that have shells or pearls. Aurelie Bidermann has some great seashell options.

THE ULTIMATE SUMMER DINNER PARTY

“I always believe that you need to first and foremost establish a palette, if I choose the vision, choose the color palette and beyond that I really believe that you need to look to your immediate surroundings to take inspiration from, both the season, the seascape, the colors out there in nature, I always think that you should really start with what’s surrounding you,” said Athena Calderone, the New York-based author of “Cook Beautiful” who will release her second tome “Live Beautiful” in March.

1. I think that it’s always widely appreciated to do something for the decor on the table that is unexpected, a little bit thoughtful and maybe with a homemade touch, something personal.

2. I believe that serving a signature cocktail is really important. I do love an Aperol Spritz but also I really like some sort of tequila drink, just because I think that livens the party.

3. Since I host so often, I think it’s really important to make sure you establish what do you want, what do you want to create, the decor you want do in advance. Get support, get help because you are the host, you set the mood, if you’re stressed, you’re overwhelmed then your guests are going to feel bad. My motto is ‘simple ideas thoughtfully executed’….I think that you have to think in advance of every minor detail so that you can then sit and relax.

4. I really love serving fish in the summer, and I love to grill fish, but often a delicate white fish is very difficult to grill…and my whole kind of motto is to elevate the presentation of the food so I’ve come up with this great tip that I think it’s delicious and beautiful and makes grilling fish easy which is to slice any type of citrus, lemon, lime, orange, even grapefruit, and you slice them into round discs and you put the discs on the grill, you can put fresh herbs on top of the citrus, and then the fish on top of the herbs, and you just close the grill, you don’t have to flip it, and then when you put it on the plate you got this beautiful citrus with the fish on top of it.

5. And also think that vibrant souses like salsa verde, or some sort of herby souse is like a beautiful way to elevate the color palette on top of whatever coating it is, but also a vibrant taste.

THE ULTIMATE SUSTAINABLE SUMMER

“First of all we should all do a sustainable summer, would make a huge difference,” said sustainability champion Arizona Muse.

1. The first tip is never think you are too small to make a difference, every incremental small change you make on a daily basis makes a huge difference over your lifetime, so do it, make those changes.

2. Second tip, teach your kids about it, kids are so clever with this stuff and they absorb it really well.

3. Switch from using liquid shampoo and conditioner in bottles to use pressed powder shampoo or a bar of shampoo that’s also dry, comes wrapped in paper, no plastic at all.

4. For all sponges that you use in your house, you can find brushes with natural bristles to replace those sponges, they also last a long time, you don’t have to replace them as frequently, and when you do replace them, they are biodegradable, so put them in compost disposal.

5. Look at the materials, read the labels before you buy a piece of clothing, if it’s made of synthetic material, don’t buy it.

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