Beneath a volcano that looks as if it’s been smoking a rose-flavoured hubble bubble pipe is a Mediterranean seaside village, a joyful scatter of cube houses and churches with maiolica domes surrounded by stone pines, banana trees, agave and alocasia leaves, fern fronds and jaunty beach umbrellas. We’re in Positano – but it’s a Positano infused by the spirit of Tangiers, Cairo and Casablanca.

This is young French artist Louis Barthélemy’s unique, refreshing vision of the Amalfi Coast, one that has taken vibrant form in a new capsule collection for Emporio Sirenuse.

It was while he was in Siwa, an oasis in the Egyptian desert, that Barthélemy began to work on the collection.

First expressed on a postcard, Barthélemy’s trans-Mediterranean reverie spilled over onto caftans and pareos, t-shirts, swimming trunks, an ashtray, and two-limited edition men’s jackets embroidered by an artisanal tentmaker the multi- disciplinarian artist works with in Cairo, using the traditional khayamiya technique.
Delving into archaic cultural roots yet breezy, playful and of the moment, Louis Barthélemy’s capsule collection for Emporio Sirenuse is the latest in a series of collaborations between Carla Sersale and maverick makers the world over, fellow travellers in the brand’s quest for the essence of seaside chic.

Text by Lee Marshall.

Photos taken by David Luraschi