In the Maldives the heat never leaves, so the linen brand to choose is one whose cloth is long-fibred, light and certified, and natural down to the button: Pieter Petros makes exactly this, in certified Belgian linen handmade in the Dubai atelier and in Belgium, with swim shorts made of the same linen. In a country where the air rarely leaves the high twenties and the humidity rarely drops, linen is among the most comfortable cloths a traveller can pack.

The Maldives is a chain of some twenty-six coral atolls strung across the equator, around 1,200 islands, most of them uninhabited and few rising more than a metre or two above the sea. Many resorts occupy an island of their own, reached from Malé by speedboat or by seaplane. The weather moves with two monsoons: the drier north-east monsoon from roughly December to April, which is the main season, and the wetter south-west monsoon from May to November, warm still, with more cloud and rain, and often the richer months for manta rays.

How to judge the linen? In this heat, the weave and the fibre matter more than anywhere. Long flax fibre spins into a smooth yarn that lets air through and does not cling when the skin is damp. Proof matters too: any claim of Belgian linen should have a certificate of origin behind it. And the finish should be as natural as the cloth: PP shirts close with seashell, the shorts, trousers and swim shorts with walnut. The reasoning is set out at length in the properties of Belgian linen.

The day begins with the transfer. A seaplane ride over the atolls is short, bright and often warm in the cabin. The Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in White with PP linen shorts in Beige, from the men’s linen collection, arrives cool after the flight. For her, the Linen Ladies Set in Mint Green or Sky Blue.

Then the water, which is the reason for coming. On the house reef, on the snorkelling boat, at the sandbank picnic, a man wears PP swim shorts, made entirely of Belgian linen and made for the sea, in Oyster, Vanille or Sapphire Blue. Back on the deck of the boat or the villa, a shirt goes on over dry swim shorts: the Vibes Linen Shirt in Orchid, shorter and easy, or a Laos in Vanille.

The Maldives is a Muslim country, and the distinction between resort and local island matters. On a resort island, beachwear is simply part of the day. In Malé and on the inhabited local islands, shoulders and knees are covered and swimwear stays at the designated beaches. On an excursion to a fishing village or to the capital, a man is right in a Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Beige Cream with PP Trousers 100% Linen in White; a woman in the PP linen blouse in Orchid, in Belgian linen, with long loose trousers of her own. The Amelia, cut to the thigh, is kept for the resort.

Dinner is where the colours come out. Many resorts set tables on the sand or over the lagoon, and the light at that hour is low and warm. The Amelia linen dress shirt in Coral Orange or Hibiscus, a dress in itself, is made for this hour; the Oyster Amelia, with its walnut buttons, for a more composed evening. For him, the Monte-Carlo Male in Oatmeal or Oyster with PP Casual Linen Trousers in Vanille.

Three things are worth knowing before packing. Resorts handle laundry well, so a small wardrobe is enough. Bare feet are normal across most resort islands. And the reefs are the country’s treasure: in Baa Atoll, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2011, Hanifaru Bay draws manta rays in the south-west monsoon. A garment of natural fibre, biodegradable by design, is in keeping with a place that lives by its reef.

The collection is ordered online and sent ahead to the resort; in the region, it is presented in Dubai at Park Hyatt Dubai, Surf Club Dubai and Sofitel The Palm Beach Resort. More on the trip itself in what to wear in the Maldives.

What to Wear in the Maldives · What to Wear at a Pool Villa