The most elegant men in Lamu are not visitors. They are the older residents of the Old Town walking to the mosque in a long white kanzu and an embroidered kofia cap, or the dhow captains on the waterfront in a striped cotton kikoi knotted at the waist. Both garments are loose, light and made for the heat, and both are worn with a dignity that no resort wardrobe easily matches. For a man deciding what to wear in Lamu, that is the right place to start: with the clothes the island already wears.

Lamu lies off the northern coast of Kenya, close to the Somali border, and its Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the longest continuously inhabited Swahili towns on the East African coast. Lamu has almost no cars. Lanes of coral stone, many barely wider than a man's shoulders, run between tall houses with carved wooden doors, and donkeys still carry goods up from the quay. Visitors fly into the airstrip on Manda Island across the channel and arrive by boat. The dry, breezy months from July to October and from December to March are the usual seasons; the long rains of April to June close much of the island.

The Old Town is a conservative Muslim community, and men are expected to cover the knee and keep a shirt on away from the beach. Shorts that would pass on Shela sand look out of place in the market square by the fort. Long linen trousers are the natural answer: PP Trousers 100% Linen in White echo the kanzu without imitating it, and the cloth lets the sea breeze reach the legs in the narrow, still lanes. With them, the Laos Linen Shirt in Grey worn untucked has the ease the town expects, and its colour sits quietly against the white walls and dark carved doors.

A walk of about forty minutes along the shore, or a short boat ride, leads to Shela, the village at the southern end of the island where the long beach and the dunes begin. Here the dress code relaxes. PP linen shorts in Navy Blue and a short-sleeved shirt cover the walk through the village; on the beach itself, the PP swim shorts in Roosewood Pink take over. The terrace of Peponi, the hotel that has stood at the water's edge in Shela since the late 1960s, is where the morning usually ends, and lunch there is taken in a dry shirt rather than a wet towel.

Dhows are the other part of every Lamu stay. Sailing trips leave from the waterfront for the mangrove channels, the snorkelling reefs and the ruins of Takwa on Manda Island, often with lunch grilled on a sandbank. Swim shorts are the garment for the boat and the water, and a light shirt with sleeves protects the shoulders under a sail that gives little shade. Those who have dressed for a dhow cruise in Dubai will recognise the boat, although on Lamu it is a working vessel rather than a dining room.

Some men adopt the kikoi for the beach and the evening, worn as the dhow captains wear it. It is a fine choice and sits well with a linen shirt above it. Others prefer to keep their own tailoring. For dinner on a rooftop in the Old Town or a sundowner on the water at Shela, the Male Linen Shirt in Blue with PP Casual Linen Trousers in Oatmeal is relaxed enough for a place without a single tie and composed enough for the families whose houses the restaurants occupy. The rest of the men's linen collection is built for the same kind of evening.

Festivals change the island's rhythm. The Lamu Cultural Festival, usually held in the final months of the year, fills the waterfront with dhow races, donkey races and poetry, and the Maulidi celebrations bring pilgrims from across the coast. In those weeks the Old Town is at its fullest, and long trousers, sleeves and a quiet colour are the respectful choice in every lane.

Very little on Lamu is built for visitors, which is why so many return. The man who arrives with two pairs of long linen trousers, a few loose shirts and his swim shorts will find he has packed much the same as the men who live there, only cut differently and closed with seashell buttons.

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