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English has a verb that French lacks: “to summer.” In British aristocratic and American WASP circles, one doesn’t simply ask “Where are you spending the summer?” but rather “Where do you summer?” The expression generally implies a family home or a second residence. This is what is called “verbing”: transforming a noun into a verb, and, in this case, making the season a practice.
But if “Where do you summer?” focuses on social belonging, then another question deserves to be asked: “How do you summer?” If summer is a doing, then there are just as many ways to experience it, far exceeding the destination. On social media, the line between vacation and self-presentation blurs: the destination matters less than the imagined one. This is precisely what the Euro Summer trend demonstrates : Europe becomes an aesthetic choice, even without leaving one’s city, made up of sidewalk cafes and well-worn books.
Summer as a new culture
This evolution marks a shift. For a long time, the summer ideal was built around bodily norms, from the British reality TV slogan “No carbs before Marbs” to the term “summer body.” Today, the focus is also slowly shifting towards style: summer is becoming an aesthetic in its own right, with its own codes, archetypes, and micro-cultures. After the Hot Girl Summer popularized by Megan Thee Stallion , a manifesto of a summer of unbridled freedom, came Charli XCX ’s Brat Summer , a universe built around her album Brat, tinged with acid green, perfectly imperfect makeup, and an ode to excess.
“It’s not that weight concerns have disappeared, but what’s truly aspirational today is summer style. We’re seeing incredibly elaborate
beach looks, and a real desire to dress up, even among men, to create a complete outfit simply for going to the beach,” observes DJ
Louise Chen, a menswear enthusiast. From beaches to festivals, she describes a multifaceted summer identity, shaped by individual passions. When she’s DJing, style is anything but secondary: “A Smashing Pumpkins T-shirt, Quiksilver shorts, jelly shoes, a small portable fan, a lacquered bun to keep my hair from getting caught in my headphones, and a face mist.”
The summer lexicon
Summer has always been more than just a season: literature and film have long used it as a stage for metamorphosis. In Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse , vacations hasten the end of innocence; in the film Call Me by Your Name , the verdant villa frames a sentimental exploration; in Vicky Cristina Barcelona , the stay in Barcelona opens a parenthesis where the characters dare to explore other romantic scenarios. Then as now, this period suspends daily routines, becoming a time for deviations, possibilities, and experimentation in fashion as well. On TikTok, summer personas , also called aesthetics , have emerged , offering a multitude of ways to inhabit summer. After the Tomato Girls and the Coastal Grandmother , new figures are emerging for 2026, each with their own habits, reading habits, snobbishness, and, of course, wardrobe. Characters that we adopt for the duration of a season. Here’s an overview of these new summer icons.
Coastal cool: becoming a Biarritz Baddie
Coastal Cool draws inspiration from the golden age of seaside resorts. At the turn of the 20th century, Deauville, Biarritz, and Newport became the epitome of bourgeois vacation spots. Sea bathing, regattas, and yachting gave rise to an entire wardrobe: Breton striped shirts, boat shoes, gold buttons, and navy blue. Today, you don’t need a sailboat to channel your inner Biarritz Baddie: crumpled linen, raffia, an oversized shirt, a wicker basket, boat shoes , and endless stripes. The rest is a game: swimming before breakfast, reading In Search of Lost Time to forget your own, misplacing your phone and not looking for it. Here, true luxury lies in being expected everywhere… but rushed nowhere.
Midnight sun: cool is the new hot
Midnight Sun draws inspiration from Zara Larsson’s eponymous album, itself inspired by Nordic summers and their famous midnight sun, when twilight lasts until morning. Contrary to the Mediterranean fantasy, this aesthetic favors a cold, electric summer. It is in this same geographical region that a globally celebrated pop culture was born, from ABBA to Robyn, and now Zara Larsson . Somewhere between Nordic light and club culture emerged a metallic and reflective wardrobe: liquid-effect satin, mesh, chrome finishes, mirrored sunglasses, glossy skin, in the vein of Scandi Sleaze and Chromecore. Added to this is the swim-to-street trend , which involves wearing swimsuits as everyday wear, under a sheer shirt or with a flowing skirt. “Going to Copenhagen in the summer is about seeking a life that is not a giant calendar alert, it is the antidote to holidays planned in advance, you go from the city to the beach on a whim, you have a towel in the trunk, the whole day is nothing but spontaneity” adds Louise Chen, a fan of “coolcations”, or cool Scandinavian holidays.
Kennedy Summer: Old money, new summers
The starting point of Kennedy Summer was undoubtedly the success of American Love Story , dedicated to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. With it, a whole iconography was reborn: the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, the houses on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, sailboats, lawns overlooking the sea, tennis matches. Between Carolyn ‘s minimalism —known as CBK—and the lawyer’s preppy style, the look consisted of white shorts, sheath dresses, tortoiseshell glasses, and Nantucket Reds , those faded pink canvas trousers emblematic of the East Coast. Here, nothing seems new, everything seems inherited.
Summer-in-the-city: the city is mine
Born from the staycation, the Summer-in-the-City is no longer just for those who don’t go away: it’s a true flexibility. In August, the city seems to have been privatized just for us. The streets empty and take on the air of a movie set. We know the best air-conditioned cafes, hidden gardens, and secluded rooftops. Iced matcha in hand, we stroll between the terraces. The wardrobe? A summery power casual: tailored Bermuda shorts, a poplin shirt, sunglasses (even indoors), and a large tote bag that cultivates an air of mystery. A towel for the pool? Enough to escape an hour away? Promise, it’s just between us.
Summer Opera: Too much? Never!
Operacore , sure, but the summer version. Here, the inspiration comes from opera festivals, from Verona to Salzburg, by way of Glyndebourne, where people picnic in tuxedos on the lawn before the performance. Here, this theatricality suddenly becomes accessible to everyone, at any time. Like Rosalía in Berghain , who injects opera into club culture, it’s up to us to bring a little lyricism back into everyday life: capes, long gloves, ribbons, velvet, and pearls. The real challenge is to play the part to the hilt: buying bread as if you were leaving an Italian palazzo, becoming a tragedienne without tragedy.
Beach Goth: Black is a summer color
Beach Goth claims the right to a touch of melancholy, even in the sweltering heat. And it starts with the wardrobe, because summer isn’t all about pastels: black lace, sheer veils, sunglasses, stacked silver rings, and a jet-black swimsuit. SPF 100, Ethel Cain in headphones, Shirley Jackson on the towel. The sunniest hours are avoided; and if you absolutely must go out, you unfurl an enormous parasol and adopt a suitably serious demeanor. The only appointment that matters is sunset: Beach Goth never trusts a sky that’s too blue.