Accessible Luxury Brands Are Taking a Slice of the Euro Summer Pie
This summer, more contemporary brands are opening stores in buzzy European destinations to cater to travelers who aren’t buying from the top end.
Not many summers ago, a stroll along Capri’s Via Camerelle, or Place de la Garonne in Saint-Tropez, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a vacation purchase in the sub-thousand-euro category. This summer, though, you’re somewhat spoilt for choice. Brands including Cult Gaia, Alo, Same Swim, and La DoubleJ are opening stores in either the South of France or along the Italian coastline ahead of the 2026 season, in a bid to capture the flocks of tourists who visit these hotspots and are keen to splurge without breaking the bank.
“As these destinations become more affordable through better priced hotels and Airbnb stays split several ways, the retail follows suit. Shoppers love to have stories tied to their vacation purchases,” says luxury consultant Michal Kurtis. “It’s [one of the reason’s] why people love shopping Chanel in Paris, although the same product exists on 57th Street. There’s something undeniably chicer about tying your purchase to a Riviera adventure rather than buying the same item a few subway stops away.”
Accessible luxury brands tend to sit below the $1,000 price point, and have been coming up on the heels of upmarket players as their prices climb further out of reach. Many of these brands are tapping into Euro summer, landing in hotspots via temporary spaces that enable them to test demand and refine their strategies without binding real estate contracts. Others, though, like swimwear brand Same Swim and LA lifestyle label Alo (the latter of which just opened in Saint-Tropez and Cannes), are committing to permanent spaces, confident that their customers’ vacation spending will be worth the investment.
“In destinations where many brands are positioned at ultra-luxury price points, our customer can shop more freely, whether that means purchasing multiple pieces or building an entire trip closet,” says Shea Marie, co-founder and designer of Same Swim, which is opening permanent boutiques in Capri and Saint-Tropez this season.
But retail space remains limited and logistics complex. Other brands are finding ways to tap into la dolce vita without having to sign any lease agreements — short-term or otherwise. Staud, for instance, celebrated its summer-long collaboration with famed Positano restaurant Da Adolfo through an influencer trip to the Amalfi Coast. For those who didn’t cop an invite, the brand is celebrating the collaboration across its US stores, bringing a slice of Europe to those staying stateside.
Though many brands are setting up shop permanently for the first time in these destinations, the success of their past pop-ups and brand trips serve as an indicator that there’s a market for accessible luxury.
Same Swim’s Marie recalls daily lines down the street for the brand’s Saint-Tropez pop-up last year. “Last year, there was a line out the door all summer, and we expect that demand to continue,” she says. “Even the affluent shopper wants to feel like they can get a new It-girl vacation closet without absolutely breaking the bank.”
For Brazilian ready-to-wear label Farm Rio, coastal hotspots — including its temporary summer locations Capri, Ibiza, Saint-Tropez, and Marbella — are no-brainers not only because they align with the brand’s sunny universe, but because they are markets the label is keen to grow in. “These openings are connected to markets where we are already seeing strong brand awareness and growing consumer engagement, especially in Spain,” says Farm Rio CEO Fabio Barreto.
A render of Farm Rio’s forthcoming Capri boutique.
It’s the brand’s previous pop-up experiences in destinations like Mykonos, Saint-Tropez and even the Hamptons that make him confident in this year’s slate. “Across these locations, we saw strong engagement from both local consumers and international travelers, not only in sales, but also in brand awareness, social media impact, and emotional connection with the brand experience,” he says. This next wave will help inform where the brand will lay its roots for the long run, much like the brand’s Venice Beach store in LA, which formed off the back of a successful temporary run.
It’s the same approach Cult Gaia founder Jasmin Larian Hekmat is taking with her pop-ups in Cannes and Ibiza. “I don’t assume we’re going to be right about anything, even if all the data shows us so,” she recently told Vogue Business. “I also like waiting for the best space ever, so that allows me to bide my time, but also grow.” Spaces on these coastal streets are hard to come by, she flagged, but is keeping watch while in town to check in on her temporary stores.
Given these destinations are seasonal, for many brands, the pop-up model (either standalone or in partnership with a retailer or beach club) is often a safer bet than a permanent or summer-long boutique. But for others, the allure of staking their claim on a sought-after shopping street — and the clientele that follows — is enough for them to take the plunge.
“Not only do the storefronts offer brand awareness on their own, but it also contextualizes brands among established luxury players,” Kurtis says. “If a contemporary brand sets up shop in Saint-Tropez, it signals that the brand ‘gets it’ culturally and aesthetically and feels more relevant and on-trend to the aspirational set.” It’s not a strategy any contemporary brand can mimic, though. The upfront costs are high, from the building to the shipping, and if brands are to bank on shoppers purchasing their pieces abroad, their aesthetics must align with the Riviera lifestyle.
For some founders, the pop-up strategy can prove higher lift, lower reward. “After successful pop-ups in NYC, Florida and Saint-Tropez over the past year, we learned quickly that the strategy was not for us,” Same Swim’s Marie says. After closing up in all of these locations, Marie realized that the level of investment could have generated higher returns had they stayed open longer. “At the end of each pop-up, we wished we had committed to a permanent space. Now that we have data and truly understand the demand, we look at long-term strategic potential, customer response, and how naturally the brand fits within the destination.”
Still, it’s no small feat. Marie says “everything” involved in setting up permanent stores in these destinations (currently Capri and Saint-Tropez) has been more difficult than anticipated. The logistical complexity of expanding internationally is heightened in these coastal destinations, she adds, from the language barrier to the ways and timelines of working with local contractors.
These complexities are felt at Farm Rio, too. “[It’s tough] coordinating temporary projects across multiple countries, each with different regulations, timelines, logistics, and retail dynamics, while still maintaining a consistent brand experience,” Barreto says. To alleviate some of the logistical pressure, the brand’s Ibiza store is located at Jondal beach club, meaning the team didn’t have to set it up from scratch — the focus was mainly on the merchandising.
These permanent stores are, of course, intended to make money. But founders also emphasize the marketing potential of showing up in Euro summer for a longer period than an influencer trip or pop-up allows.
“Of course, sales are important, but these stores are also strategic tools for building brand awareness and long-term market connection,” Barreto says. “They help us understand how consumers engage with the brand in different regions, how local audiences respond to our positioning, and how Farm Rio’s universe translates culturally, positioning us as a global lifestyle brand.”
Staud is selling Da Adolfo-branded bags.
Ideally, the brands heading to these balmy destinations will offer exclusive capsules or pieces tailored to each spot, so the assortment feels thoughtfully curated — and exclusive — Kurtis says. Farm Rio, for one, is taking this approach. Each store will feature exclusive souvenir products under its “Feeling Rio” concept, including a scarf, tote bag, hat, and T-shirt specially designed for each project. Because these brands sit at a relatively affordable price point, these more gimmicky, souvenir-like buys are a likely draw for customers keen to bring a holiday memento home.
With brand awareness typically comes sales, and the longer these brands can stay in town, the better. “People love to shop while on vacation. Shopping is less need-driven, more emotionally inspired… a fun activity on the itinerary,” Kurtis says. “It’s like the popular meme that money starts to feel like Monopoly money as soon as you’re on vacation. Whether it’s a Chanel Nemo-printed flap bag, or a fish shaped Staud clutch, the same sentiment applies to spending abroad.”
