The Chanel cruise 2021 collection was originally intended to be shown on the island of Capri. Chanel’s creative director wanted to design a destination wardrobe of “easy clothes” that “a sophisticated but also cool girl would want to travel with.” Virginie Viard’s proposal includes swimsuits to wear as bodies under cardigan jackets, wide-legged pants, or handkerchief-hemmed skirts, and no-nonsense iterations of the classic Chanel suit or saharienne jackets in cotton tweed.

This is an extrovert’s collection, with plenty of skin and very little pretense. There’s a compelling ease to the clothes, even though the attitude is dressed up. The colorful florals seen on several slinky dresses and a pair of neat blazers for women are cheering. Ditto the tie-dyed caftan and pool robes that accompany body-baring white bikinis. But the collection’s biggest takeaway are the guys’ flower-print pants. They were a hit in 1999, inspiring countless knockoffs, and they’ll do it again in 2021. 

Ermanno Scervino’s look book was shot in his Florentine villa’s botanical garden. Intricate embroideries, elaborate lace intarsias, and hand-crafted appliqués are an integral part of the hyper-feminine style Scervino favors. The lockdown didn’t dim his penchant for seductive embellishments, and resort offers plenty of his signature romantic pieces, made in airy white cotton muslin trimmed with delicate Chantilly lace. Snow-white whimsical dresses are flounced, plisséd, and frilled; masculine pant suits are cut from alabaster-white broderie anglaise; and soft tailored blazers in ivory macramé lace are worn over matching short shorts. Animal print contrasts with the virginal palette, adding a jolt of sexy glamour.