The linen to bring to Mykonos is long-fibre, certified and cut loosely enough to move with the island’s wind, and that is the standard Pieter Petros holds: certified Belgian linen, handmade in the Dubai atelier and in Belgium. The island is hot, bright and almost always windy in high summer, and few fabrics answer those three conditions as naturally as linen.

Mykonos sits in the Cyclades, the ring of islands around sacred Delos, and the meltemi is part of its character. This dry north wind blows through July and August, sometimes for days, cooling the afternoons and raising the sea along the north coast. Summer highs sit around the high twenties to low thirties; the sea is warmest in August and September. Linen breathes in that heat and dries quickly in that wind, which is why it suits the island so naturally.

How should a linen brand be judged here? By the fibre first: long-staple flax gives a cloth that drapes rather than billows, an advantage on an island where the wind lifts every loose hem. By proof: a serious brand can show the Belgian Linen® certificate behind its cloth and name the colourways that carry it. By the making, and by the buttons: PP shirts close with seashell, the shorts and trousers with walnut, nothing synthetic anywhere. The same standard is applied across the country in our guide to linen for Greece.

Chora, the main town, is a maze of whitewashed lanes, said to have been laid out to confuse pirates. Begin in the morning at Panagia Paraportiani, the white church by the old Kastro quarter, and walk down through Matoyianni Street. Greek Orthodox churches ask for covered shoulders, and the lanes are stepped and narrow. For a man, the Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Oyster with PP linen shorts in Beige from the men’s linen collection. For a woman, the PP linen blouse in Orchid, in Belgian linen, which keeps the shoulders covered for the church and stays cool in the lanes.

Little Venice is the evening. Its old captains’ houses lean straight over the water, and above them the row of windmills at Kato Mili catches the last of the sun. When the meltemi blows, spray reaches the terraces; a cloth with some weight behaves better than a gauzy one. The Amelia linen dress shirt in Dubarry, a dress in itself, holds its line in the wind and its depth of colour as the light turns. For him, the Vibes Linen Shirt in Vanille with PP Casual Linen Trousers in Oatmeal.

The south coast belongs to the beach clubs. Nammos sits on Psarou, Scorpios on the headland at Paraga, and both have their own composed rhythm through the long afternoon. In the sea and on the lounger, a man wears PP swim shorts in Sapphire Blue or Vanille, made entirely of Belgian linen. At the table, the shirt goes back on: the Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in White over dry swim shorts, or PP linen shorts in White if lunch runs long. For her, the Linen Ladies Set in Sky Blue moves from the sun bed to the table without a change.

Quieter days lie to the north, at Agios Sostis and Fokos, beaches without clubs where a long lunch at a taverna is the event. The Monte-Carlo Male in Vanille, with its walnut buttons, is at ease here, its colour close to the sand.

Delos asks for a different wardrobe. The sacred island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990, is reached by boat from the old port of Chora and has almost no shade among its ruins. Covered arms and a light, pale colour make the morning possible: the Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Beige Cream and PP Trousers 100% Linen in White, or for her the PP linen blouse in Sky Blue with long loose trousers of her own. The site closes in the afternoon, and the boats return to Mykonos in good time for a swim.

On Mykonos, PP garments are ordered online and sent ahead to the villa or hotel. In the Cyclades, the collection is also presented at One&Only Kéa Island, about an hour by sea from the coast of Attica; near Athens, One&Only Aesthesis carries it too. The full wardrobe is set out in what to wear in Mykonos.

What to Wear in Mykonos · Best Linen Brand Greece