Summer in Santa? A laidback break in Liguria

Locals would never refer to this warm embrace of an Italian seaside town by its official name, Santa Margherita Ligure. That sounds fancy; and for all its elegant belle époque hôtellerie and baroque churches, Santa is far from fancy.

That sobriquet can be applied, for sure, to Portofino, five kilometres to the south, where for at least a century aristocrats, celebrities and captains of industry such as Gianni Agnelli have come to cosplay at living in a typical fishing village. The kind of typical fishing village that has Brunello Cucinelli and Louis Vuitton boutiques and the highest per capita income in Italy. The kind where the owner of one of the restaurants down by the harbour likes to stay informed about his clients’ extra-marital affairs so he can warn Commendatore X, when he rings to book a table for dinner with his wife, that Signora Y and her husband will be among that evening’s guests. 

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Santa is none of this. Santa is rows of wooden beach cabins decorated in jaunty stripes like painted fettuccine. To every bagno – beach club – its own colour code: dark orange for Bagni Sirena, which cosies right up against the stone blocks of the harbour breakwater. Sailor-blue for Bagni Vicini; femme-fatale scarlet for Central Bagni next door, beneath the frondy palm trees on the seaside prom. Over the road is the inevitable monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in heroic pose, sword drawn, atop of a heap of rocks. Santa has no real official connection with Giuseppe but he’s a good excuse for a piazza that allows locals and summer returnees to indulge in seasonal activities: flirting, gossiping, the reading of pink sports newspapers and the consumption of gelato. 

Santa is also glistening piles of red shrimps, silvery seabass, lugubrious anglerfish that keep their eyes on you like grotesque Mona Lisas as you stroll around one of Liguria’s most celebrated fish markets. It opens around five every afternoon when the boats start to putter back into port. Restaurant owners get first dibs, but there’s always plenty left over for a barbecue in the hills above town, where many locals have a patch of land or a Sunday villa (for Ligurians, a country escape is rarely more than a steep walk away). Someone will have brought a slab of focaccia from Fiordiponti, a bakery sheltering beneath the arches of a centro storico palazzo painted in two shades of ochre, like a Ligurian Rothko. This will seem austere – it’s nothing but flour, water, oil and salt – until you bite into it.

Polo Ralph Lauren cotton T-shirt, £79. Vilebrequin cotton T-shirt (worn underneath), £110. Magliano Lyocell trousers with denim effect, £615. Prada leather slippers, £910. Georg Jensen silver and gold Torun bangle, £525, and silver ID Reflect bangle, £490. Collanine Colorate glass bead bracelet, £31, and shell, glass bead and semi-precious stone bracelet, £26. Vincent Vintage Bijoux shell and amber necklace and Murano glass bead necklace (attached to trousers), both POA

The story goes that Santa’s diversely painted façades – like those of its cousins all along this coast to Genoa and beyond – were made that way so fishermen and mariners could identify their own house as they sailed into port. If that’s not true, it’s ben trovato, as Italians say. Also ben trovato – a neat invention – is the habit of painting windows where there were none (locals were once charged a window tax so it was cheaper to paint them on). Some of these have trompe l’oeil details such as partly drawn curtains or figures peering down from behind the shutters.

A photograph of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, taken in February 1947, shows them standing outside the town’s old palace resort, the Grand Hotel Miramare, in the years when Santa was still mostly a winter destination. They look like a regular couple enjoying some quiet together time. Maybe they walked on the beach, picking up shells and pebbles, then tucked into a dish of trofie al pesto, gazing down the coast to Sestri and beyond; taking a pause amid the tumult. Reminding you that a life should be more passeggiata than race. Santa is good for that.

For Ligurians, a country escape is rarely more than a steep walk away

Leander Straub wears Prada leather jacket, £4,950, and wool trousers, £1,750. Orlebar Brown linen and cotton shorts (just seen), £295. Havaianas rubber and PVC flip-flops, £30. Collanine Colorate pearl necklaces, £28 and £80. Bianca Saunders cotton cap, £150, and cotton Knot bag, £320. Guess cotton T-shirt (in bag), £35. Vincent Vintage Bijoux shell necklaces (attached to bag), POA

Left: Vilebrequin cotton polo shirt (worn over shoulders), £130, and recycled polyamide swim shorts (just seen), £210. Jawara Alleyne cotton T-shirt, POA. Hermès cotton drill trousers, £1,024. Homme Plissé Issey Miyake polyester belt, £190

Right: JW Anderson cotton cardigan, POA, and cotton top, POA. Vilebrequin recycled polyamide swim shorts (just seen), £210. Begg & Co silk and cashmere Cadell scarf (worn as sarong), £350. Church’s leather sandals, £740. TAG Heuer steel and bio-nylon Mini Vingt Sept sunglasses, £430. Vincent Vintage Bijoux mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli bead necklace (worn as bracelet), shell necklace, and enamel and silver bracelet, all POA. Collanine Colorate glass bead and shell necklace, £118. Hermès palladium-finish-brass and horn bracelet, £1,140. Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello vegetable leather belt, £480

Dolce & Gabbana linen and raffia shirt, POA. Bianca Saunders regenerative cotton top (just seen), £200. Guess recycled nylon swim trunks, £52. Collanine Colorate glass bead and shell necklace, £118, glass bead bracelet, £31, and shell, glass bead and semi-precious stone bracelet, £26. Vincent Vintage Bijoux silver charm bracelet, POA

Emporio Armani cotton, linen and viscose shirt, £280, Lyocell jacket (draped over arm), £990, and Lyocell trousers, £670. Miu Miu nylon swim shorts (just seen), £540. Loewe silver, enamel and cotton thread necklace, POA. Vincent Vintage Bijoux bronze necklace and shell necklace (worn as bracelet), both POA. Headband, stylist’s own 

Santa is also glistening piles of red shrimps, silvery sea bass, anglerfish that keep their eyes on you like grotesque Mona Lisas at the fish market

Orlebar Brown linen shirt, £345, and striped linen shirt (tied around waist), £345. Vilebrequin recycled polyamide swim shorts (just seen), £210. Church’s leather sandals, £740. Oliver Peoples x Roger Federer injected nylon R6 sunglasses, £336. Vincent Vintage Bijoux bronze necklace, POA, and glass bead necklace, POA. Panconesi rhodium-plated-brass Vortice cuff (on upper arm), £385. Begg & Co silk and cashmere Caddell scarf (worn as sarong), £350

Left: Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello pékin shirt, £780, wool scarf (tied around waist), £505, brass necklace (just seen), £265, and vegetable leather belt, £480. Av Vattev cotton shirt with cotton scarf, £235. Commission cotton boxers (just seen), £225. Church’s leather sandals, £740. Bianca Saunders cotton cap, £150. Collanine Colorate coral and pearl necklace, £55. Vincent Vintage Bijoux silver and ivory bangle, POA

Right: Sunnei mohair vest, £327. Zegna cotton vest (worn underneath), £715, and cotton trousers, £2,065. Havaianas rubber and PVC flip-flops, £30. Georg Jensen silver and gold Torun bangle, £525, white-gold Fusion bangle, £7,900, and silver Reflect ID bangle, £490. Vincent Vintage Bijoux silver bracelet, POA, enamel and silver bracelet, POA, and silver charm bracelet (worn on ankle), POA. Panconesi rhodium-plated-brass, nylon, agate, fluorite, jade, carnelian, crystal and resin beads Ascolto belt (worn as necklace), POA, and rhodium-plated-brass Vortice cuff (on upper arm), £385. Swimming goggles, cap and trunks (worn at waist), all stylist’s own

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake cotton cardigan, £755. Lemaire silk shirt, £895. Kartik Research pearl-embroidered cotton trousers, £305. Angry Child nylon Corsaro swim shorts (just seen), £150. Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello ​​polypropylene and polyester boots, £860, and brass necklace, £265. Vincent Vintage Bijoux garnet bead necklace with charm, POA. Panconesi rhodium-plated-brass, quartz and jade Ascolto earrings (worn as brooches), £290

Orlebar Brown linen shirt, £345. Vincent Vintage Bijoux bronze necklace and glass bead necklace, both POA. Oliver Peoples x Roger Federer injected nylon R6 sunglasses, £336

Model, Leander Straub at Perspective Management. Casting, Piergiorgio Del Moro and Helena Balladino at DM Casting. Grooming, Liv Holst at Walter Schupfer Management. Photographer’s assistant, Teo Zanin. Stylist’s assistant, Vincenzo Trionfo. Production, Squalo Produzioni. Special thanks to Hotel Continental di Santa Margherita Ligure