Elegant Under an Umbrella

From Ravello to St. Tropez, major fashion brands such as Dior, Armani, Gucci, Fendi, Loro Piana, and Valentino have visually taken over the beach clubs of exclusive hotels, furnishing them in a uniform style that closely resembles the classic Italian beach resorts, the Stabilimenti Balneari.

While the classic beach resort offers ice cream, drinks, and a good espresso at a small kiosk, the exclusive beach clubs run by fashion brands let you shop for the latest collections and accessories at the pop-up store on the hotel grounds and enjoy a glass of champagne or rosé.

Regardless of the type of beach, everyone agrees that a classic beach umbrella—designed to block the sun’s rays—is an essential accompaniment to a lounge chair. The design is also nearly identical at both luxury resorts and standard, classic Italian beach resorts. As for colors, Valentino features signal red, while Gucci uses yellow-and-white stripes.

Perfect for the garden, the beach, and the balcony

While just a few years ago, sun sails and huge, often square umbrellas—which were said to be reminiscent of Tuscan market stalls—could be seen almost everywhere, one now comes across charming round umbrellas, much smaller in diameter, in many places.

Café Moro, Venice © GloriousMe 2025

These small, round umbrellas have the advantage of being easy to set up and very portable. As the sun moves, you can tilt the umbrella stand accordingly or simply reposition the umbrella.

If you have plenty of space on the patio or in the garden, you can simply add more umbrellas, just as many hotels do.

As a rule, however, you can still see much more of the surroundings or architecture than you can with large umbrellas or massive sun sails.

Stripes, solid colors, or maybe a bold pattern?

The classic parasol is striped. In Italy, it’s often found in the classic navy colors of blue and white, or in cheerful red and white, and sometimes in yellow and white as well.

Those who prefer a more understated look should choose a solid-color umbrella, and if you want to be on the safe side when it comes to the quality of workmanship and the UV protection of the umbrella fabric, you’ll want to choose a model from Thurgau, Switzerland.

There, the family-owned company Glatz has been manufacturing umbrellas with Swiss precision since 1920 for private customers and hotel chains in 66 countries. The parasol fabrics offer UV protection of over 98 percent, corresponding to a sun protection factor of 50+. The solid-color parasol fabrics can be attractively paired with a variety of interesting wood types.

Those who dream of Asia may opt for patterns or prefer the so-called Bali umbrella, whose characteristically whimsical shape is reminiscent of the Indonesian island.

The fabric of this parasol from the Dutch company hkliving is reminiscent of the 1970s. Its stand is made of beech wood, and it comes with a matching carrying case that makes it easy to take the parasol wherever you want and enjoy a good book and cool drinks in the shade beneath it.

Beach Umbrella © Collection hkliving

We all need a protective shield

The resurgence of the parasol has another major advantage over awnings or other large-scale sunshades. The sight of these small, round umbrellas instantly lifts your spirits.

In these times, when we all find it hard to laugh because we witness every day how Ukraine is struggling to defend itself, it feels good to give our souls a small, invisible—yet so important—shield of protection with a smile.

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Cover photo © Alamy Stock Photo