In Italy, villeggiatura is one of those nostalgic words that instantly conjures up black-and-white family photos, Fiat station wagons packed to the roof, and entire households migrating en masse to the seaside or the mountains for the summer. Back in the ’50s and ’60s, it wasn’t so much a holiday as a seasonal relocation, with wardrobes, routines, and enough luggage to furnish a small villa included. Times have changed, but one thing remains sacrosanct: the Italian summer escape. And for those who still relish the ritual, Carolina Castiglioni has thoughtfully packed the essentials.
Plan C’s latest edit arrives with enough options to outfit an entire season of optimistic séjours. And given that an artistic chromosome seems to run through the Castiglioni family, it is perhaps no surprise that the “basics” Carolina Castiglioni proposes are only basic in the most technical sense. They are eminently wearable, but also possess the quality of making actual basics look rather underachieving. Good design with a discreet modernist bent, innovative fabrics carrying just the right hint of techno wizardry, and prices that stop short of requiring a second mortgage all contribute to the brand’s appeal.
Castiglioni herself and her children remain the label’s most persuasive ambassadors. Together they project the enviable Plan C lifestyle: summers divided between Forte dei Marmi and Switzerland, dressed as if permanently enrolled in the chicest summer camp. The uniform consists of windbreakers, crisp oversized shirts equipped with pockets large enough to suggest actual utility, and sailor trousers whose edgy details prevent them from drifting into nautical cliché.
Beachwear follows the same formula. Trapeze dresses in compact white cotton have a charming innocence, embellished with detachable geometric flowers that smooth their modernist side, while boxy shirts bloom with Hawaiian florals rendered in a deliberately childlike hand.
“For me, utility and femininity are best companions,” says Castiglioni, whose brand of sophistication never takes itself too seriously. Her intelligent clothes are infused with wit, with just enough playful charm to make even the most workaholic Milanese contemplate a summer escape.
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