From Dior's Beach Club to Designer Hotel PJs: How Fashion and Travel Are Making It Instagram Official in 2026

In 2025, fashion and hospitality started getting close, but 2026 will be the year that the relationship is taken to the next level. Get ready for the rise of luxury travel merchandise.

Major sporting events like the Winter Olympics in Italy and the World Cup (taking place across Canada, Mexico, and the US) are happening this year, and coupled with the popularity of TV shows centred around specific destinations like (every fashion girl's guilty pleasure) Emily in Paris, along with upcoming blockbuster film releases (The Devil Wears Prada 2, Wuthering Heights), the message is clear: despite a volatile economic outlook, consumers are still spending on experiences. Whether that manifests as tickets to a big match in North America, a chic city break in Paris or New York or a cosy weekend on the Yorkshire moors, getting away remains a priority.

With personalisation front of mind, there will be a trend towards booking travel to destinations that reflect our passions or offer location-specific experiences, opening the door to more opportunities for memorable merch. More and more hotels are investing in branded silk pyjamas, collectable totes, everyday beach-club essentials and summer beauty kits for guests, marking the start of luxury fashion and beauty brands recognising a gap in the market for meeting their customers where they spend their downtime.

Looking ahead at travel trends in 2026, there will be a greater emphasis on creativity and tailored experiences, and when it comes to tangible takeaways—in the form of luxury travel merch—fashion is set to fully immerse itself in the worlds of entertainment, sport and culture. And with some of the most influential creative directors partnering with hotel brands (Kim Jones and Aman Resorts, Pharrell and The Goodtime Hotel), we can expect the merch to become the main attraction.

Memory-Making Merch

Leaving no element of our lifestyles untouched, brands with a strong identity and engaged community are catering to their customers’ changing needs across several unexpected touchpoints, including our travel itineraries.

According to Statista, "Customers … are increasingly seeking unique experiences during their travels. They are looking for accommodations that offer more than just a place to stay but also provide memorable experiences." And as tourism continues to rebound globally, even as the need to pull back on lavish holidays affects certain levels of the market, consumers aren't giving up their annual travel plans. Whether booking off-season to #dupedestinations or downsizing from 14 to 10-day holidays, the expectation of creating memorable experiences is still there. The numbers are a sure sign that investment in creative collaborations will continue to act as a draw for the 125 million international tourists who visited Europe in the first three months of 2025 alone, according to a UN Tourism report.

The Rebrand of Hotel Boutiques

Gone are the days when the uninspiring hotel boutique was the only option for a little in-resort retail therapy. Now, legacy hotel chains are rebooting their offerings to include some of the most sought-after merch designed by some of fashion's leading names. Palm Heights in Grand Cayman has quietly become known for attracting key emerging talents, scoring exclusive designs from Christopher John Rogers, Tekla and Marrakshi Life.

Meanwhile, The Ritz Paris is now offering the ultimate souvenir for the French-bourgeois-meets-American-prep aesthetic (thank you, Celine) with branded women’s and men's ready-to-wear collections. The hotel also has a limited-edition collaboration with FRAME, whose merch—from cashmere jumpers to varsity jackets—has been endorsed by Hailey Bieber, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. This is proof that there's life beyond the lobby, and that brands can find commercial success with products that tap into their guests' desire to be part of their story in an IYKYK way.

Being part of the holiday "in" crowd also gives bragging rights to those who manage to snag exclusive items from an under-the-radar hotel collab, as many of these pieces are proving too good to only be worn poolside. One&Only Resorts' exclusive swim capsule with swimwear designer Mara Hoffmann, for example, is likely to have doubled in value on the resale market following the designer's decision to close in 2024, whereas Olivia Von Halle's satin sleep set for The Carlyle in NYC bills itself as "a cocktail pyjama for the city that never sleeps."

This trend is not just exclusive to the hotel scene, as cafes, restaurants, and iconic local eateries are also recognising the demand to brand themselves outside of the food they sell, in effect turning their loyal customers into a clever twist on traditional billboard marketing. In 2024, following a Highsnobiety collaboration that was sold in Selfridges, East London institute Beigel Bake launched a range of merch which sold out online and included T-shirts, tote bags, and utility jackets. The Manchester-born luxury streetwear brand Represent also recently opened its first London outpost with an in-store café, called the Owners Club Café. Especially tailored to its 247 community, the launch featured a store exclusive collection of merch in colours such as ‘Flat White’, alongside a football shirt released just in time for the Women’s Euros tournament.

The SPF Factor

After plenty of 2025 pop-ups, the beach club is steadily becoming one of the most impactful ways for brands to stake their claim on the summer season, targeting those who migrate out of cities and travel to the coast, from Ibiza to Saint Tropez, Miami to Dubai.

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Beach-club takeovers mean brands can connect with their customers during their downtime, and by simply marketing the exclusive nature of the experience and dressing the environment with brand colours and codes, guests will naturally find themselves encouraged to purchase merch tied into the pop-up as a souvenir to remember the experience. Take last summer’s Burberry-ification of The Standard Hotel in Ibiza; Burberry by the Sea saw the house celebrate summer on the rooftop of The Standard, rebranding sun loungers, a lift and even a boat called The Check Mate with its signature check updated in the emerging colour of the season: lemon yellow.

Following a day by the pool, guests could indulge in merchandised moments which ranged from a retro-style photobooth to summer staples including swimwear, beach bags, hats and sunglasses. Meanwhile, Hailey Bieber's Rhode popped up at Gran Folies in Majorca, Prada dropped in on Lido del Faro in Capri; Alo Yoga set up shop at the Mandarin Oriental in Bodrum and Longchamp transported from France to Felice 1 in Tuscany, all with beach clubs and tailored merch of their own. We wait with bated breath to see which brands will turn up on the world's fanciest shores this year, but we know Dior is continuing its popular Dioriviera takeovers.

Luxury Merch Takes Flight

As fashion brands double down on exclusive collaborations with not just hotels but sports tournaments, concerts, viral restaurants and even spaces as niche as literary festivals (Miu Miu’s Literary Club in Milan and pop-up Summer Reads newsstand which gifted book merch), the hospitality sector is also using this luxury branding opportunity to tap into local talent, highlighting the stories of makers and their craft. Swedish premium essentials brand CDLP has collaborated with one of Lake Como’s most exclusive hotels, Passalacqua, on a capsule featuring printed co-ords, swimwear and locally designed, hand-painted silk scarves.

Effortlessly extending its influence outside of the fashion world, Simon Porte's Jacquemus announced in March this year that the label had joined forces with Air France to create Le Pyjama for the airline's La Première guests, to serve as the ultimate "keepsake from a night onboard."

And as previously mentioned, one of Kim Jones' first projects since leaving his role as artistic director of Dior Men’s is a collaboration with the lifestyle division of the Aman resort brand. Boasting sustainable materials sourced with global environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans, each piece is designed with adaptable functionality to switch from city to sanddunes. This first collection marks another milestone in Aman’s strategic expansion into retail, as the group's e-commerce shopfront ranges from ready-to-wear to fragrance, skincare, homeware and sports (tennis and yoga) capsules. It also offers a new blueprint for hotels to move beyond simply creating standard merch towards full-blown collections with guest designers.

So, expect many more of these exclusive collections in the near future, whether swimwear to make a splash by the pool at The Standard Maldives, or casual outerwear for horse riding at One&Only Montana.

Extreme Sports Gets Elevated

It's officially ski season, and fashion houses are tapping into the sport to develop edits that offer runway-worthy looks for on or off the slopes. Aligning with the upcoming Winter Olympics, starting on 6 February, luxury brands have created kits for their national teams, including Ralph Lauren for the U.S., Lululemon for Canada and Adidas for Team GB. Lacoste, whose heritage is synonymous with sports, unveiled a Cortina D’Ampezzo 1956 Collection to celebrate the winter games with a blend of retro styling and cosy ski gear.

Elsewhere, Jacquemus is reviving its ongoing collaboration with Nike for a collection that will have spectators both soirée and ski-ready, with contoured, second-skin layering, maxi shearling coats and neon co-ords.

Back to Alo, the L.A.-based brand hosted a trip to winter-resort destination Courchevel to launch its Alo Atelier collection, where, alongside high-performance ski suits and cashmere puffer jackets, ice-skating boots and skis got the travel-merch makeover with custom branding.

No stranger to the mountain sport, Moncler Grenoble teamed up with luxury e-tailer MyTheresa to host a trip focused on alpine living and slow travel, with guests transported to Gstaad by vintage train. The activation marked the launch of two exclusive looks that could be considered the ultimate expression of luxury travel merch.

Seeing Stars

Fashion merch has always been intrinsically linked to the entertainment industry, as fans seek out exact copies of iconic looks from their favourite shows or blockbuster movies. This year will prove just as important for movie and film merch tied into popular travel destinations, providing a boost for booth tourism and fashion brands.

Fans of historical romance will rejoice at the release of a new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, shot on the Yorkshire moors and starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. Jonathan Anderson (who worked on the costume design for Challengers and Queer) would be a frontrunner to create Dior merch tied to the film, as the fashion house's best-selling Book Tote Bag (which the creative director re-imagined, embroidered with the covers of literary classics) would make for a fitting opportunity.

Simonstone Hall, the Yorkshire hotel where Robbie and Elordi stayed during filming, is currently offering a Wuthering Heights-themed experiential stay, where guests can disconnect from modern life and indulge in a "grown-up getaway" including afternoon tea, guided walks and long baths, followed by a candlelit dinner.

Location, Location, Location

Beyond the big screen, a raft of new hotel openings (The Standard, Lisbon; Orient Express, Venezia; Six Senses, Waldorf Astoria, and the Delano in London) will create new collaborative partnerships and guest experiences across fashion, art and food that are both tangible and memorable, and travel merch will act as the ultimate holiday keepsake.

The high-profile launch of the "all-suite" Chancery Rosewood Hotel in London, which is the former home of the US Embassy, is making waves within the fashion world. Hosting Roksanda's twentieth anniversary show during London Fashion Week last season, the hotel also boasts interiors decorated with Savile Row fabrics, but it's its collaboration with British-Canadian designer Erdem that takes the concept of luxury travel merch up a notch. Guests of the hotel can relive their stay with a set of Toile de Jouy pyjamas (printed with a map of Grosvenor Square in the 18^th century), exclusive to the Chancery Rosewood. In Paris, decadent slumber was also on Olivia Von Halle's mind, as she updated her best-selling Lila pyjamas for a collaboration with Hôtel Costes. Both designers captured the mood of the respective cities—an example of the way travel merch is setting itself apart and evolving to become more than a throwaway souvenir.

Miami’s Art Basel fair never fails to draw a crowd, and during last November's event, The Standard teamed up with Colombian-American designer Esteban Cortázar for his Donde Esteban pop-up of summer-holiday essentials printed with neon graphic scenes depicting the vibrancy of Miami Beach. The pop-up was influenced by the designer's Latin heritage and the "tienditas" (small stores) of his youth, attracting both guests of the hotel and attendees of the art fair to the authentic experience.

The retro glamour of Apple TV+ series Palm Royale returned for a second season last year, with the streaming platform partnering with The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach to celebrate. The takeover’s shoppable merch included sun loungers, throw pillows and fringed parasols from Business and Pleasure Co., and for a limited time, devoted fans could book a curated Stay Royale package. The one-of-a-kind immersive experience included a stay in the hotel's Magnolia penthouse, access to a vintage convertible and a photoshoot styled with a retro 1960s wardrobe edited for each guest. The hotel's leopard-clad boutique was decorated with pastel-toned accessories and dresses from Dolce Gabbana to emulate the style of Kristen Wiig’s main character, Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons.